Falling
by jiemae
Summary: What would you do if a demon gave you a second chance? [SI-OC Insert]
1. A Demon's Debt

**Forewarning** : This is a story I wrote and was working on in early 2013. I like to think that I have grown in my writing since then. Nonetheless, I was surprised, when I was reading back on this, by how much I actually liked it. So here's to a 2017 rebirth.

* * *

 **Falling**

* * *

1

* * *

 _Great_. Wonderful!

I'm dead.

I would say my mom would kill me if she found out, but well, given the obvious it doesn't look like that'll be happening any time soon.

I have to admit—despite the circumstances, only one thing was on my mind

 _Did_ I pick up my little sister from school before I died?

It scared me to have to think about it, attempting to revisit the time before I came to the realization that I was aware and distinctly lacking a body. There was a certain level of fear creeping up into my thoughts at having to struggle to recall it and then... I did.

It was an instant relief. The memory was fuzzy and distant but there she was, clambering up the steps to our house as I shut the door of my car. I had been sighing, thinking of all the dishes I would have to wash the evening. Then that's when I died.

Something slammed into me, stray car or truck or whatever. Don't ask me, it's not like I actually want to remember _that_ part.

Either way, it was ironic. "No good deed goes unpunished"? Great. _Awesome_.

Shit, I really need to stop with the sarcasm.

This _isn't_ great. This is _lame_. Super lame.

Damn it, kind of makes me tear up with how lame this is.

But on the bright side of things, I don't have a body to cry with so I can't look like a complete tool. I suppose that's the point of things when you die. No unhappy tears in heaven, right? I mean, that's where I gotta be if I'm completely and utterly surrounded by nothing but white. Honestly, the lack of color was astounding for a place said to be paradise.

Was it actually limbo? Purgatory? Oh Christ, anything but _that_.

Despite it all, I feel myself shift awkwardly in the air and realize I _do_ actually have a sense of self, weirdly enough.

With my new found feel for freedom, I looked down. Which was a mistake, as it only served to confuse me further. There was nothing there. I actually saw nothing. Same if I glanced up.

Which made me think; was there any end to this? I _really_ hoped so. All this boredom and free time was really cramping my style, being the the sort of person aching to be constantly in motion.

Besides, I was actually getting scared, terrified if I was being totally honest. My sense of humor could only get me so far. It was disconcerting, to say the least, not knowing what in the hell was going on, only realizing that I had died. Where was I going after this or was this my eternity?

I realized late that I should probably spend this time thinking about important things, like how my family was faring and less about myself if I needed to prove myself to heaven. So I did my best to correct myself and thought about them. Being that I was a control freak in that household, they might have actually be glad I got myself killed.

But before I could spend any real amount of time on that line of thinking, a figure approached. A small and slim profile came into view and I felt the oddest sensation of attempting to squint but being unable to.

"Does the end justify the means?" It asked with a soft gentle voice, sound ambiguous in gender. Which was probably what could be an angel thing, right?

"Is that a trick question?" I wondered, maneuvering my way closer to the entity for a better look.

"If you want it to be," they replied with, a soft chuckle following after. Or was it more a giggle?

"I don't," I quickly replied with before charging on ahead, questions on my lips, "Who are you?"

"I am—well, it doesn't matter _who_ I am, so much as _what_ I am. Right?"

"I guess so. What are you, then?" I paused to wait for a reply but then thought again, "Wait, first, I'd like to inform you of my atheist status. I won't believe in anything too farfetched and idiotic."

It was kind of a stupid thing to say but I didn't care. What if I wasn't dead at all and was just high off my ass? I was really starting hope that was the case.

As the figure came more into view and I closed the gap, I realized that this person/thing was a girl or at least a girlish looking boy. Very pretty, cute, and _young_. I shivered. I couldn't help it. She looked to be my sisters age. Actually, if I squinted a bit, she looked just like her. Long black, wavy hair, crystal clear blue eyes and tanned skin. Something I looked very similar to when I was younger. But I guess I don't actually look like anything now.

Still, it was unnerving as the being before me went to speak.

"I am a very powerful being and I'd like to make a deal."

 _Er, what? Say again_?

"A deal?"

"Yes, in exchange for a brand new life."

I outright laughed, "Huh? Is this something like reincarnation then?"

"Eh? No, it's more like falling into something but who cares about what it's really like. What's important is that you accept the deal."

 _Yikes._ That isn't strange at all.

"Then," I mulled her words over in my head, "what's the catch?"

"It's simple. You just have to do three things that I ask you to do in the next life."

Which didn't actually seem to be all that bright of an idea.

"I think I'll wait for God or Jesus or something," I answered, attempting to steer myself away from the crazy in front of me.

"Wait!" The girl cried, reaching out a hand to touch me. Suddenly my shaped formed into the reality and my arm was there, being caught. I stared wide-eyed and certainly panicking at the absurdity happening before me.

 _I'm actually dead_.

Oh my god.

What the fuck.

I jerked myself away and in an instant, my body fizzled away. My mind, so clear as it had been just a second before, went fuzzy and everything fell into a disarray as my thoughts battled for my attention. It was like...like I was disappearing or something.

"I don't think you'll like what's coming to you if you don't accept my offer," she said, her voice soft and as if she actually cared.

I shifted towards her and something inside me was _hungry_. Just for a touch, just to be real for another moment.

"I guess..." I settled on saying but inwardly I panicked.

 _I'm nuts. Officially batshit insane._

"Do you accept?" She asked and suddenly put on the spot to say something, I nodded, cringing as I did so. I mean, what's the harm? Another chance at life, and besides, it's only three things to do. How hard is that? Worst case scenario would be if this person/thing was lying to me.

Grinning, a happy glint in her eye, the girl launched herself forward. I doubted my actions instantly as I watched her fingers stretch out to touch me. However, I didn't move, still as stone as her palm came to rest on me. Inwardly, I blanked but again, my body reappeared and my mind suddenly sharpened.

Then, just as I heard a taunting laughter ring through me, a great darkness enveloped everything. But it was just a moment and when I opened my eyes, I slumped forward. With a surprising amount of difficulty I opened my eyes, finding myself still standing in the white place. The girl also stood there but it was a bit disorienting as I found myself to be closer to her height now. My eyes met hers directly.

Again, what the fuck.

"Now lean down," she whispered and I obeyed, abruptly lacking the ability to control my body as she waved her hand over my left eye. I closed it in an involuntary reaction. Inside, I panicked at her close proximity but she was unbothered. Calm, she brought her hand away before slowly, as if to suspend the moment, she leaned in. Her lips puckered slightly as they made contact with my closed left eye and I grimaced instantaneously.

Fast and like lava, a searing pain gripped me in its hold before I came to clutch my burning eye.

"What did you do?" I groaned out, having to fight against the whim to cry as my eyes watered.

"I sealed the contract!" She shouted pleasantly, "It _is_ what demons do!"

Then, I was falling.

 _Shit_.

Right from under my feet, the white room opened up, traces of its presence evaporating into the suddenly windy air. Gripping onto instinct, I clawed the air desperately, ebony locks of hair floating around me as if suspended on strings before my body picked up speed. They, and my clothing, began to whip violently around me as I rushed my limbs into obeying me.

In a struggle, I finally managed to maneuver my arms and legs to flatten and extend outward, my hair finally clearing away as I took in the scene before me. The view would have been breathtaking, if I had any to give as I struggled to breathe through my nose.

It was a sight I had never seen before and most likely never would again.

I was falling into a forest, the sun slipping past and into the surrounding mountains in a truly magnificent sunset. The remaining rays of sunlight seeped out into the land, cascading over the trees and despite my innards rearranging themselves, I could still appreciate the view as I let out an ear-splitting scream.

Then it was all coming to an end, the view vanishing before my very eyes.

As I neared the top of the trees, my breath came in short panicked gasps. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, wincing in preparation for the moment I hit _something_. But then an odd force seemed to take my body into its hold. Against it, I let out a violent yelp before I opened my eyes to see that I was actually _glowing_. The wind calmed instantly and my blown hair fell in a tousled fashion as my body—controlled by what could only be called magic—was lowered down towards the ground.

When it finally felt as if I had landed, I didn't feel a single ounce of pain.

No, I felt one last gust of whirling wind whip at my feet, allowing me a soft descent to the forest floor. With only a few gasping breaths, I finally got my footing and my head stopped spinning soon after. But before long, I found myself growing frustrated.

How _dare_ that demon trick me!? Yeah, yeah, its what demons _do_ but why me? Obviously I wasn't in the right mind already, as I actually chose to believe that little shit despite the fact that she shouldn't be able to exist, just like the afterlife. But I suppose the evidence had presented itself. The demon _was_ a demon and I _had_ been conscious of myself in that white place. Still, the demon was a stupid one in choosing _me_ to do her dirty work. What the hell was she _thinking_ in sending a city girl to a forested area. I'd die, again, in a heartbeat.

"Alrighty!" I yelled out, voice coming out shrill and child-like. _Wait, what the?_ Still, I pushed on, screaming out words at the top of my lungs, "Come out demon! I swear to god I will flay you alive!"

"My, my, settle down!" The familiar voice made me sigh in relief, yet I quickly grounded myself with anger as I turned to face the little shit with a scathing glare.

"Where _am_ I? What's going on, you stupid demon!?"

"Hey!" The girl pouted, pointing at me with one perfectly manicured finger, "I have a name, meanie. It's Hatori." After a pause, she grinned, "Neat, huh? I picked it myself since Master picked such a lame one. I mean, 'Ken?' What the hell?"

"Hatori...?" What. Oh. Is this—Is this a Japan-loving freak like my younger sister?

"Yup! And your name is Sarah Mitchell, right?" Hatori asked and I nodded, struck with the bizarreness of the situation. From dead to alive, this whole day had been utterly unreal. "That kind of name won't do here. They'll totally see you as an outsider. Hmm. I know a good one! Sata Miyazaki!"

"Sata... Mi-Mi-Miyazaki!? Are you taking this seriously at all, demon? What have you done to me? Why is my voice so high pitched? Why am I so short? Answer me, De-Hatori!"

Hatori glared at me, taking a few steps closer as I matched them with a step back, "Don't be such a child. I may have implanted you into one but you're still an adult mentally. _Act_ like one."

I reeled back from the insult, "I—what? What about you!? What kind of ' _adult_ ' thinks it's perfectly fine to put people in dangerous territories where bears may roam? And what on Earth do you mean, _implanted me into a child's body?_ "

Obviously frustrated, Hatori growled, eyes lighting up with a fire-like radiance, "Human, learn your place! Then, I will inform you." She paused, her eyes flashing brilliantly, "Besides, bears are the least of your concerns now, Sata-chan."

 _Okay, Sarah, calm down, calm down._ I breathed in slowly and out before nodding, "Sorry." I murmured in an obvious struggle to rein in my palpable anger.

"That's better. Now, as I was going to say before you freaked out, I have placed you into the body of an orphaned child by the name of Miho Saeki. Don't worry about her soul though, she's passed on already. I just placed you in her dead body. Notice that if you look at the skin, you'll see it's discolored. But there's still nothing to fear! I can heal you to be just fine and dandy."

She grinned. I wanted to die again already.

Satisfied with my reaction, she continued, "Ahh, what else? Oh yeah, so the reason I brought you here was to change something I didn't like, with Master's generous help. Gosh, humans are so irritating with the way they always cause so much drama," the last part was said in an off handed way as if she were remarking on the weather. Which was windy, god damn it.

"Change... what?"

"Shh! I'll get to that later. For now, you need to know that you are in the world in which your sister, Mariah, cared for so deeply. I believe the series is called 'Naruto'?"

I froze. You have gotta be shitting me. No way. Nope. It can't be. I can't be in _that_ morbid world, where people jump around like gods. I gave a choked noise of surprise before nervously laughing, looking at her doubtfully as I asked again, "No, really, where am I?"

"At Kannabi bridge, the place where the gods do not help!" Hatori announced cheerfully, "Just perfect for a demon's work!"

I shook my head, staring at Hatori in dawning horror, "What's the time... arc...? What's the political situation?"

"Bleh, politics are so boring," Hatori promptly stuck her tongue out in a gagging motion, "but to answer your question, I do believe I entered you around the time that one of the main antagonists are crushed by a boulder in an attempt to save a pal. Quite noble, I'd say but I'm a demon, what do I care about nobility?" Hatori laughed before noting my open mouth, urging her forward to speak again, "I'm not clear on the names. Master is a bit scatter brained about them and I just never really care about the side characters."

I wasn't clear on them either. Faintly I could remember my sister's ranting voice, upset over something or other. Obi...Obiko? That sounds Japanese enough, right? But no—it had a 't' in it. But where? Whatever, he was crushed by the boulder and was later saved by... Mad—Madman. Right. I totally got this situation under control.

Hatori let out a laugh just as I was mouthing the name, trying to figure it out, "I almost forgot! I have a book that Master prepared for you! It's a databook of all the characters and a summary of the complete storyline." I breathed a sigh of relief but quickly covered it up with a cough as I reached my hand out for the thick leather bound book. It was pretty plain, but seemingly fresh in age. Losing interest for the outside, I opened it up for a quick look, flipping through the pages and then pausing as my eye caught on one name in particular, "Obito Uchiha."

"Oh that's right!" Hatori said merrily, "That's the name of that ugly brat."

I shook my head, never a fan of name calling as I gaze at the picture of a 'genin' him. "He was pretty cute before the accident." As I read on, memories came knocking as I realized he had been one of my favorite characters when I had gone through my childish stage of obsessing over anime and the like. Yet I had to put a stop to it, as it got in the way of my studies. But it wasn't like I cared anymore, having pushed all those feelings away long ago. Shaking my head once more, I looked to a bored, yawning Hatori.

"So I only have to do three things for this contract to be over, right? Saving this boy is one, right? Well, lead me to him, stupid girl."

Hatori frowned, eyes narrowing, "What on Earth made you think I'm a girl? I'm male, through and through."

I blinked, caught off guard, "Your... hair?"

"So just because I'm a boy I can't have long hair!? I'll have you know that Master loves longer hair."

"Wait," I paused, "Do demons even have a gender?"

He gave me the stink eye before hesitating. Then his eyes grew wide, "Holy crap. I don't know. Hey, wait here! I'm going to go ask Master!"

"Huh? No! WAIT!" Damn it, the little shit was gone already, having disappeared by way of dissolving into the air. Great, I was left there all alone, with no means of survival. It was insane, totally batshit insane.

 _I want to cry._

* * *

 **A Demon's Deal**

* * *

"Miss me?"

"You little freaking piece of shit!" I shouted, standing up, arms flailing as I attempted to restrain myself from strangling the shithead. Hours, it had been hours since he left and it was fully night now, with noises of wildlife to prove my point of it clearly being too dangerous for me. I had felt like my heart was going to burst several times already and Hatori's sudden arrival hadn't helped that in any way.

"Oh, man you need to calm down. Master says that isn't a very good thing for a recently revived corpse."

"Screw you!"

"Haha, that reminds me. Master asked for me to tell you 'What are you, a stupid punk? Demons don't reproduce asexually. Punk.'"

On the brink of insanity, I outright slapped myself on the forehead, releasing a tiny growl that was filled with my renewed hate for all things little and annoying as hell, "I wasn't even aware demons reproduced. At. All."

"Harsh! How do you think I was born? I mean, you need to stop with all this prejudice too, it's pretty exclusive for you to only think girls can have long hair."

I need to get myself away from this. Why, oh _why,_ hadn't I ran away when I had the chance?

"Hey, Sata, I think we should go look for Oboto-kun"—" _Obito._ "—"We don't want him to be crushed by the boulder."

I looked at the night sky doubtfully before nodding hesitantly, "Hatori, do you even have any idea on where he is?"

"'Course I do! Master drew me a map!"

"Hand it over." I really did _not_ trust this fiend with anything so important. But soon, it became clear that with the lack of light I wouldn't be able to see worth a shit. Then Hatori held up his finger and it began to emanate a brilliant white light. With a nod serving as a thanks I looked thoughtfully to the map.

The directions were relatively easy to follow (as they weren't _really_ drawn, save for a nicely illustrated image of a pile of rocks). Luckily, they were just orders of how many steps to take in each direction and what not. Easy enough, we soon found ourselves even thicker in the forest than I've ever been before. I will just say warningly that city girls and forests aren't a very good combo, and never would be. However, when I was younger I spent summers with my dad in the mountains. So at least I had that to keep me calm even as my heart pounded heavily.

Seeing the need, I struggled to recall every word of advice he'd given me. It was useless and difficult the moment I realized how far away that life was starting to become. Thankfully and before long, it became evident that we didn't need the advice as we were soon met with the sight of a pile of rocks similar to the drawing that had been on the directions.

Gasping, I lunged forward.

"Were we too late?" I asked, worried as I reminded myself of the time of night we'd made it to him. "Damn it! This is because of you going off to your pathetic master!"

"Master isn't pathetic!"

"Ugh, just shut up! Help me dig. He's still alive. Madman shouldn't have taken him yet." I know this is a serious situation but for the life of me I couldn't recall that damned Uchiha's name. Only about how hot he was. But that was useless information to me in the moment.

"If you apologize, Sata-san, I'll help."

Breathing out a short growl, I shouted out, "Fine! Sorry, your Master is the greatest demon of the entire demon world!"

"Good," Hatori replied with, before grinning as he took a step closer. Taking me off guard, he suddenly dissolved before my eyes but as a gust of wind blew past me, my body became charged with a strange power.

 _What are you doing?_ I asked in my head, alarmed that I couldn't speak them myself.

"Helping," that child-ish voice of mine—I mean, Miho's replied with. Oh great, I was being possessed.

With great strength, Hatori lifted the rocks up from out of their places one at a time, tossing them aside easily. Soon, we were met with the sight of a disfigured body, lying in a bloodied matted mess, a large boulder having been tossed aside roughly and landing a little bit away.

 _Let me go now,_ I ordered, feeling more than agitated as my mother instinct to care came in.

Hatori, surprisingly, complied as my body sagged with the evaporation of the monster strength, leaving the body back into my care. Breathing out a sigh, I kneeled at Obito's side, whose eye slid open, leaving the sight of a hollowed socket. I shivered.

"Who are you?" His voice was weak, broken as he croaked out softly, almost making my heart strings break with how hard they were being plucked.

"I'm here to help," I murmured, then turned to glare at Hatori, "Tell me what to do!" I snapped, "What sort of back up plan did you have?"

"Back up plan?" Hatori looked thoughtful before shaking his head, "I had no such thing, silly!"

Shaking with rage, I resigned myself to the fact that I was speaking with an idiot and shouldn't be so surprised. Then I looked up to the sky with a silent prayer before I glanced at Hatori helplessly, "Do you have any ideas? Any demon tricks up your sleeves?"

There came the glint of mischief to Hatori's ice-blue eyes once more, "Oh, but it'll cost you if I tell you."

"Cost me? What? _What_ will it cost me?"

"Ten years."

"Ten years...?"

"Ten years off your lifespan."

I looked back to Obito, feeling caught. Ten years, or this boy's life? Well, that brought up a lot of things. What did I have to live for anyway? What was even the point to life if it wasn't just something to be afraid of losing? As well, it wasn't something that had treated me well in the past. I mean, a drunken mother who barely even sobered up for my graduation and a deceased father who only left fond yet painful memories to remember?

Even now, this new one didn't look very attractive either. What would it be to lose, just ten years in what might just be agony and waiting to finally die again?

 _Holy fuck, I am a pessimist_.

But it helped me make my choice.

"Alright," I whispered, "Ten years. Now tell me."

"Good choice, Sata-san! Hmm, oh yes. Your blood."

"M-my blood?"

"Yes. This is a body of a corpse, one that I had to bring back by infusing demonic blood as well as a compatible blood type from another human. Luckily, that blood is yours, as I managed to gather enough of it before those doctors took it away for an autopsy."

"But how can I use it to save this guy's life?"

"He has to drink it of course! It should give him enough life energy to heal up without much of a scratch but the price is steep. Each time you let another person take a sip, it's ten years off!"

"That's pretty demanding," I muttered darkly before I turned back, "What if... what if his body rejects it? I don't even know my blood type."

Hatori laughed, "Silly! It isn't the blood type you should worry about, it's the demon. If the demonic blood so chooses to reject him, not vice-versa, it will not be pretty. But it's really all in your control, the demon blood obeys you until it chooses not to."

I gulped, nervously looking back to Obito.

 _But it's the only way_...

Breathing in and out in quick gasps, I grabbed a stray jagged rock. "Okay, Obito," I talked to him softly, "I'm going to do something that may or may not work. Here's to trying," I muttered to myself as I angled the rock at my palm, quickly swiping it across none too gently. Even then, there was only the barest of a drop forming.

Skin was more difficult than she previously thought to cut open.

"That should do it," Hatori said, despite my hesitance.

Sucking in a breath, I brought my hand up to the Uchiha's mouth before using my other hand to fish out his tongue. Upon pressing my palm to the dry thing, it seemed to work instantly. Eww, eww, how _unsanitary_. Still, as I felt a trace of his saliva touch me, I began to feel exhausted. Almost as though I hadn't slept in a week, if not a year. _Or ten_.

"Haha! It's done, it's done~!" Hatori sang before grinning at me merrily, "Now we wait! So, should I explain a few more things before you go to sleep, Sata-san?"

"Sure," I sleepily replied with, feeling too tired for any form of banter.

"Hmm, what to say—oh yeah, okay. Your left eye. Since I made a contract with you in such an important place, the stronger our bond is. As a sign of it, your eye now has the symbol of my Master's household of demons. As each request of mine is filled, three, like we agreed upon, the symbol with fade bit by bit."

"Why my eye?" I asked, recalling an anime I had watched with my sister a while back. Something about a butler.

"I recently enjoyed the great show of Black Butler as Master wanted us all to watch it."

"Huh."

"I'm not going to lie, I was greatly influenced by Sebastian Michaelis and may or may not have started a fanclub dedicated to the worship of him."

"Huh."

"Ne, Sata-san, don't worry about me being seen by others. I'm invisible to the naked eye. Kind of like the Shinigami in Death Note."

It was then that I realized it.

This wasn't a new life for me. This was hell.

 _Christ, stop with these damn references!_

* * *

 **A Demon's Debt - End**


	2. A Demon's Deception

**A/N:** As I got up to 35k of this story written already, updates should be coming quickly. I even spent the day editing of all of it!

* * *

 **Falling**

* * *

 **2**

* * *

Now, just to be clear on something; _I'm not crazy._

I lived a normal life before I died, studying like hell to get into college, then taking care of my sisters and mother while balancing classes and work in the meantime. I had aimed to be a politician, to dedicate myself completely to the country's well being.

Of course, I had my personal reasons for doing it—like the fact that I wanted to clean up corruption in the government in any small way that I could. If only to keep things that happened to my father, happening to anyone else. Idealistic and something only a dreamer could think of, but I had been dedicated to the idea. Sold on the hopes that I could actually make a difference.

Although...

Although I wouldn't have to go through the trouble now, right?

Well, I suppose there's a bright side to being dead and then placed inside of a little girl's body in a world that practically thrived on anarchy. I could be the hero, like America in that one utterly annoying (maybe a little funny) show that my sister watched and managed to rope me into it. Or perhaps there was an actual system to things? Hell, I'd have to research it but for now I would have to face the music that is my life at this current point in time.

Except, everything in my body willed me to just say, 'fuck that noise' and do anything _but_ that.

"Oi! Wake up!" An urgent male voice said in a panic and I groaned, wondering vaguely why my head ached so much. Trying to ease it away, I dragged in a ragged breath as I sat up, nearly making me knock my face into my attacker. _Well,_ that _didn't help._ They moved away easily enough and in quiet anger, I stared up with heavy lidded eyes.

Lo and bebold, it was the great Should-Be-Dead-But-Not-Obito, face completely healed, save for a bruise on the left side of his face and the fact that his left eye was still visibly closed and flat as if there wasn't anything present in the socket. I blinked. Then blinked again. Yup, this is reality. As I continued to focus on the eye I had to restrain myself from blowing chunks by swallowing thickly and looking anywhere but his face. _Shit._

"Oh good," I murmured softly, weakly as I attempted to summon the energy to be up this early, "You're up. I wasn't certain on how your body would react."

"Huh? What?"

"Nothing, I suppose you don't speak English," I noted with minimal interest as I gazed up at the barely rising sun. _It's too early for this BS._ Yawning, I looked to him thoughtfully when I realized how truly odd that whatever he said translated but it wasn't treated as vice-versa. I would have to ask Hatori about that, I guess and the little prick would hopefully give me a straight up answer. Knowing that tricky bastard, that wasn't likely. He's a demon, what else could I expect?

He repeated my words quietly, eyes looking to be uncertain. What came in my ears then was complete utter gibberish as whatever was translating for me struggled to understand. Eyes wide, I clamped my mouth shut to keep me from laughing. Okay, that was totally cool.

"How are you today?" I asked in English, waiting for him to repeat after me.

He did so, brows furrowing as he attempted to try to figure me out.

This time, I found myself unable to restrain the laughter, never minding how it made my ribs ache. But after a minute, I quieted down to gaze at Hatori seriously. The miscreant was actually right beside me, snoring and looking completely comfortable there on the soft grass. I discreetly nudged him, and his blue eyes slid open in an almost eerie fashion.

When he took in the scene, however, he sat up quickly and shimmied around in celebration shouting, "It worked! It worked! Master will be happy~!" Then his eyes settled on my current expression. He stopped instantly, looking almost looking meek as he asked, "What seems to be the problem?"

"I can't speak Japanese," I whispered lowly, not wanting Obito to hear well enough to repeat it. I can not handle any more mistranslations. That shit was too funny so early in the morning.

"Oh! Then here!" Hatori came forward, and as quick as lightning, he kissed my forehead.

 _Fuck_!

A searing pain tore through my head and for a brief moment, I couldn't see or hear anything as my head went foggy with my new found agony. It didn't last long but the brief moments sure were hell in and of itself.

Finally, as it subsided, I glared at him with megawatt fury.

 _I better get something out of this_ , I mentally shouted at him, though I couldn't be sure if he got the message.

"Ah, can I sp... I can speak Japanese!" I realized, feeling the knowledge settle in my brain. That was... Well that was freaking kick-ass! I was half tempted to ask what other tricks he could do but before I even attempted it, I sharply reminded myself who I was _really_ dealing with. An annoying ass twat who'd more likely mess with me than do anything cool or useful.

"Oh... can't everybody?" Obito asked and I shook my head.

"Uh... I'm not from around here," I attempted in a half-assed way of explaining.

He stared at me curiously for my words but seemed to let it go as he gestured to his body, "You were the one who... healed me, right? I don't get how you did it but you're totally awesome for doing it!" He paused, grinning at me happily, "It must be fate, so this means I _have_ to become Hokage!"

"Uh... cool. I, um, have to go now."

"No, you don't," Hatori hissed in my ear and I about swatted him away as if he were a bug to be squashed but thought better of it as I did my best to let my annoyance slide away.

"I mean, I don't."

"Tell him you want him to take you to Konoha!"

"Uh... Okay, so, well, I'm lost. Do you know... Do you know where I can find safety?"

His eyes narrowed suspiciously, and his tone became sharp, "Who's after you?"

"No one," I answered truthfully, then frowned, "O-Nii-san," I mumbled, stuttering over his name and what I knew of Japanese culture, "I'm kind of exhausted... uhm, I used too much..." Damn it, what was the word? Chalk? Chak...ra! "I used too much chakra in healing you." It was true, I guess if I had used it to heal him, I was exhausted. In fact, I could barely hold myself up in sitting position without slouching. I hate slouching.

But I could still see confusion in his eyes as he asked, voice serious, "Who... _are_ you?"

I paused, mulling over which name to give him when I shrugged inwardly and said, "Sata Miyazaki." Oh wait. Wait. Did I...? Did I really just say that? _Curse that little prick._

"Sata Miyazaki. That's a... weird name."

"Just call me Sata," I muttered, embarrassed that I had unconsciously called myself that.

"Sata-chan... Alright, but first, why did you help me? Which village are you from?" Obito asked and I smiled hesitantly, nervously scratching at the back of my head.

"I helped... well, because I was told to, and I wanted to," I answered honestly, "I don't have an affiliation with a single village."

"Who told you? Where are your parents?" he asked, as if trying to wrap his mind around the fact that child could have healed wounds like his had been. A child who didn't have a village at that.

With as straight a face as I could manage, I chose my next words carefully, "The voices in my head told me to do it." Then, as Obito outwardly shuddered, right eye widening, I released a laugh, "Just kidding! I did it only because I was raised that way. As for my parents and their whereabouts, well, they're dead," I replied bluntly, stating the truth no matter how you look at it. My father had died from cancer while my mother... well, she had been dead on the inside for a while now.

"I don't... get you," he muttered before giving me long suffering that was mixed in with frank suspicion. When I gave a small smile in return he visibly brightened, "But you've saved me so I guess I can trust you." He paused as he studied me but when I couldn't help but stare back wearily, he continued, "It's settled then. I'll take you back to my village with me. If Torture and Investigation says you're good, then I'll do my best to complete this life debt," Obito grinned radiantly as his pearly whites sent a sparkle shimmering in the air. "Between you and me, I hope you're who you say you are because you seem pretty cool."

That boyish charm could kill someone of a weaker resistance, that's for damn certain.

Brows raised at the sincerity in his voice, I was immediately taken off guard by how genuine his voice felt to the ears. I wasn't used to people being like this, all honest and stuff. Feeling an unexpected warmth pool in the pit of my gut, I did my best to muster a smile that _didn't_ look like an evil smirk, "Thanks, uhh...?"

He held out his hand, grinning from ear to ear, "Obito Uchiha! That's my name. Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too," I replied with as I took his warm hand in my cold ones.

* * *

 **A Demon's Deception**

* * *

"So you like to travel?" Obito asked, perhaps the millionth question that day. I resisted an eye roll at how utterly cute he looked acting so eager. Aside from when he felt the presence of enemies (this _was_ a war zone), Obito was quite talkative, not allowing a hint of quiet between us when all was calm. Thankfully, those moments when the air stilled and we had to duck for cover were few and far between.

I, as best I could, answered everything he wanted to know, answering as truthfully as I felt allowed. Although I aimed to be a politician, I was far from a liar, having been good at seeing the truth instead of veiling it. Honesty was the best policy, as my father taught me best.

"I like to travel with others, not alone. There was a time I dreamed of traveling across the world but I didn't have the... ryo for it." I thanked my twin sister of all the times she had forced me to read her fanfiction. Ryo had always been the currency she had used in her stories so I thought it only safe to assume it was the same here. Mariah had always been a stickler for details.

"I get it, so who did you travel with all this time?" The Uchiha asked, a small smile playing on his lips.

"A yokai," I muttered dryly, sneaking a glance at Hatori, who hummed along to a crappy song, "A really lame yokai."

Obito paused, as if unsure of whether I was jerking his chain or not, "You know, Sata-chan, you say the strangest things."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

* * *

 **A Demon's Deception**

* * *

"Pass code."

"Ah, snap! Why isn't Kakashi and Minato-sensei here?" Obito muttered under his breath, "They always handle these stupid things."

The shinobi at the gates didn't bat an eye as Obito strained to recall what the pass code to enter the village would be.

"I think it's... 'The fire will...' er, 'The fire will vanish alone, but with the wind, it'll strengthen'? It's something lame like that."

The shinobi looked to each other before nodding, "Ninja registry number."

Obito groaned but prattled off a list of numbers. One of the two shinobi whipped out a book, searching its contents.

"This report here says you were KIA, Obito Uchiha."

"Well, I wasn't. I was just put through a slight detour."

The shinobi once more shared a glance before looking to me, "Who is she?"

"A civilian, she needed a guide to somewhere safe."

"Civilian, huh? We'll see about that in T&I."

* * *

 **A Demon's Deception**

* * *

" _Don't worry_." Obito had said as we were separated into different rooms.

His words still echoed in my head, telling me to do something impossible. Why wouldn't I worry? Here I was, about to be tortured for information about myself that I didn't exactly know. I had no support of any sort, aside from the unreliable Uchiha. Honestly, he should have thought to memorize the pass codes correctly. The punk.

The sound of a door swinging open cut my thoughts off as I nervously waited for the person to walk around so I could see them. No later than ten seconds passed when I found myself staring into dark, onyx colored eyes. Another Uchiha? The slightly spiked raven black hair strengthened my hypothesis.

"If you're honest, we'll be nice."

Okay, time to play up the 'child' act.

"I-I'll be honest b-but plea... please don't hurt Obi-kun," I whispered, channeling my fear into my voice as best I could. Surprisingly, it was easy to do, as if this body's response to lying had been trained to calming down when doing the act. The Uchiha's eyes flashed with something and I flinched, preparing for a g... gen... what was the thing with the eyes? Or no, they had nothing to do with the eyes... it was chakra-channeled illusions that altered the victim's perception of reality. Oh yeah! It was genjutsu. Hooray for good memory.

"Good," was all the Uchiha replied with before asking, "and where are you from?"

"I forgot the name," I easily lied, surprising me for the second time, "I've been alone for a while."

"What's your name?"

"Sara—Sata! Sata Miyazaki." His eyes narrowed in on my hesitation.

Realizing my mistake, I quickly explained as I dipped my head in embarrassment, "My name is Sarah but... it's ugly. So call me Sata."

He nodded, eyes still clouded with doubt, "Are you an orphan?"

"Yes." No hesitation.

"Do you practice any shinobi-influenced skills."

I frowned, exaggerating the lip as I looked at him curiously, "Shino—what? I don't get it, mister. You speak weird."

He sighed, "Do you use chakra?"

What to do? I'm sure Obito would explain sooner or later that I healed his wounds, not realizing that it hadn't been medic-ninjutsu in the slightest. So I lied again, in order to protect Obito.

"I heal things."

"Heal?" The Uchiha's eyes raised ever-so slightly in surprise.

"Yeah, daddy taught me how to before he left with mama. But it's only small things, honest. Something strange happened when I healed Obi-kun."

"Strange?"

"Well, he looked so mushy so I tried putting a lot of my chakra into healing him and then... I fell asleep. When I woke up, Obi-kun was shaking me awake."

More questions. More answers—none that he gave me.

"Hn..." the Uchiha paused after a while of the rapid fire interview, eyeing me doubtfully, "will the stories match up?" He stood then, giving a small, "I'll be back" before leaving me completely isolated in the tiny cramped room. I wouldn't say I was lonely, however, as Hatori stood in front of me with a large grin on his face.

"I knew we picked you for a reason. You're lying is flawless."

I'm not sure how I felt about Hatori's words. After all, it was a demon telling me this. But honestly, was it really me that had been lying? I used to shake and sweat bullets when I lied. Something about this body...

* * *

 **A Demon's Deception**

* * *

"Sata-chan?" Obito asked after we both managed to leave T&I. Our stories had matched up, just as I had thought, "Are you alright? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No."

"Good," he murmured before grinning and angling his face towards me, "So, you have nowhere to go, right?"

I nodded. That looked to be the case.

"So, maybe for a while you can stay with me. Oh, and I can introduce you to my team! One of them is an asshole but Rin is suuuper nice. And then Minato-sensei is really cool too! I'm sure you'd like them," he said earnestly.

"Obito-kun."

"Y-yes?"

"Why are you doing this for me?" I asked, confused. I knew this boy grew attached to things easily but I had been nothing but distant to him, aside from my answering his questions.

"Because... I kind of owe you my life."

I studied him intently, wondering if what he said was his honest feelings. Then, I nodded slowly.

"I'll try my best not to burden you. I'm in your care," I murmured, bowing.

"Woah! No need to be so formal! Treat me like...," he paused, his eyes thoughtful before they glinted happily, "Like an older brother!"

I froze.

That face... was the cutest thing ever.

I struggled to keep down a laugh, something I had much practice in from my past life. Yet this body was used to no such thing and I found myself laughing, the sound resounding in the air as it released all my pent up frustrations. Wow, it's been awhile since I'd laughed like that. With an almost giddy, excited feeling, my laughs continued to reverberate throughout the air and just as my laughter started to die out, I looked up to him with a bright, honest smile.

"Alright, nii-san!" I agreed, teasingly moving forward to catch Obito's arm. Looking to be surprised, his mouth hung open for a brief moment before his expression folded into that of a pleased one. I don't know exactly why, but I was happy that he was happy. He was probably one of those people that had contagious emotions.

"Say, how about we go let my teammates know I'm alive and still in the running to become the next hokage!"

"Right!"

* * *

 **A Demon's Deception**

* * *

We first found Rin, who was sitting stone-like by a pond somewhere near Team Minato's training grounds.

It was heartbreaking to see it, but her crestfallen pale face stared at its reflection in the water, seemingly about to shed tears. Obito approached her slowly, his expression soft and serious as he awkwardly looked to her, probably worrying about frightening her. Knowing he would most likely make a fool of himself, I stepped in.

"Rin Nohara?" I asked, having gotten the name from Obito earlier that day.

She looked up, hastily wiping away tears. The motion was too quick to catch but somehow I knew that was what she was doing. Smiling at her gently, like I had done with my younger sister, I caught her palm in my hand.

"Wh-what? Who are you?" she asked, caught off guard.

"I'm Sata," ugh, whatever, it stuck, "Miyazaki."

"What are you doing?"

"Look up," I told her sincerely. She did so, eyes blinking curiously until she met that of a certain onyx eyed boy.

"Obito-kun!?"

"The one and only!"

After a few minutes, when she's gotten over her initial shock and surprise, she was hugging Obito in a death hold. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight of him blushing profusely. Perhaps he was a masochist?

However, the happy moment didn't last long.

A sharp glinting object was launched through the air, hitting Obito's ear as the Uchiha attempted to dodge it, pulling away from Rin. The three of us looked around and surprisingly, I was the one to spot him first, or rather _feel_ as his eyes dug into my back. Silver hair, dead eyes, and another weapon ready to launch, Kakashi, another character I remembered fairly well, crouched on a tree branch, hidden by the greenery of the tree.

"Ah! A boy!" I said, trying innocently to drag him out of his hiding place, "Did you throw that thing just now?"

Obito and Rin's gazes widened as they swung in the direction of where I was looking.

"Kakashi-kun!"

"Kakashi-teme!"

"Hmm? This is your friend, Obito-nii-san?" I asked, then frowned, "You're right, he is kind of an asshole."

Outed, the silver-haired nin stepped down from his place in the tree, eyes somewhat glaring at Obito and I.

"Step away from them Rin, you know our teammate is dead."

"That's no way to greet the guy who's given you such a great gift!" Obito shouted, face forming into a frown, "Besides, you need to give me back my goggles, you bastard."

Kakashi hesitated, alarmed it seems, before his eyes set determinedly, "Obito Uchiha is dead. There's no way he could have survived what had happened to him and arrive here without a single scratch."

"Well, Obito Uchiha had an awesome healer to get me out of that slight detour."

"Who?" Rin asked, surprised.

"This one!" Obito grinned as he pointed to me. "She found and saved me," he gave a pause as he thought about it, "Huh, I don't really know how she did it, but she did."

Rin turned to me, eyes earnest, "How!? How did you save him? Teach me!"

I looked up at her curiously, "Um... I... uh," Okay, how do I handle this? She was asking me to teach her! Honesty, honesty, honesty—"I gave him my blood!" Crap, I didn't mean to be _that_ honest.

Behind me, Hatori broke out into laughter, "You're totally weak against her!"

In my current situation, I couldn't give the demon any punishment. Later then.

For now, the three of them stared at me. With mixed reactions. Obito even looked a little green, while Rin and Kakashi had the looks of confusion and suspicion.

"Blood? What's so special about yours?" Rin asked, shockingly without a hint of judgement, just blatant curiosity in her pretty glittering eyes.

"Oh... um," I looked to Hatori who grinned evilly.

"You can say it's a family thing, ya know!"

"F-family," I stuttered out, grasping for a way to hide the truth, that I have _demon_ blood, "It's a family, er, specialty. My dad taught it to me."

"A kekkei genkai? Or is it a clan? Where are you from anyway?" Rin asked, her eyes gleaming with as she took a step forward. I stayed rooted to the spot, suddenly terrified of the girl. She was just so... tall.

"Um, I don't know what a kekkei genkai is but... but I don't have a clan... I forgot where I'm from," I shook under the weight of her gaze, surprised with how wimpy this body was. In my old one, being as tall as I was, I had never been one to be afraid of others. I was the one feared.

Suddenly, I felt my body move, growing to be upset with my unneeded fear. My hand reached up as I grabbed onto her shirt's collar, jerking her to be closer to my height. She gazed at me with surprise and I couldn't stop my voice from stuttering as I gave an apology.

"S-sorry, t-tall people are i-intimidating."

"Oh. How...," Rin paused, her lips forming into a tight thin line as if she were trying to stop herself from laughing in my face, "cute."

I blanched, caught unaware that she would say such a thing.

"C-cute...?" As soon as the word registered, my face flamed brightly. "Not really!"

"Aw, your face is like a tomato!" Obito grinned widely, and as if on a cue, his face grimaced, "That reminds me, we haven't eaten in awhile."

My nose scrunched up as I thought hard, "Or bathed."

"Let's go, Sata-chan, I'll treat you to some ramen," Obito said to me before turning to Rin, his own face flushing, "R—."

"Wait," Kakashi interrupted, "I still don't believe you. Obito is dead. We... left him."

Okay, that's slightly annoying. But why did I have the expectation that all would be settled happily ever after for Obito and his friends in the first place?

"His chakra is the same," Rin defended, frowning at the silver-haired boy.

"Kakashi-teme!" Obito protested, "Come on, I've already been to T&I! They've already fixed the reports and everything."

He hesitated, "Has _she_ been to T &I?"

Obito nodded, "She's good."

 _Yes, good at lying through my teeth_. Though it is kind of unthinkable that I made my way past shinobi who were trained to read through things like lies. I mean I'm a horrible liar turned suddenly good, but not _that_ good. But would they have let me go if I were suspicious? How confusing.

"They probably got people tailing her anyway," Obito said offhandedly and I realized what they were doing. While a child as tiny as me didn't seem to pose a threat, the shinobi world had assuredly seen weirder things and thus, even if my story had checked out, they would keep a hawk's eye on me. Although, that was also probably village policy no matter the times.

Rin ended up sighing as Kakashi continued to deny reality. Quickly, she smacked the both of their heads before dragging them after her, gesturing for me to follow. I did and with the silence between all of us, it was rather awkward. Obito looked to be stubbornly agitated, Kakashi exuding distrust and Rin exasperated.

She brought us to a place that smelled strongly of ramen, the poor college kid food I'd grown accustomed to since I was a small kid unable to cook meals. But this type, fresh and made by a chef, smelled heavenly. On que, my stomach rumbled. Good to know my freshly back-to-being-alive body could handle food. The sign off to the side read "Ichiraku", leaving me thankful that Hatori gave me the kiss of pain. At least I wasn't lost in a foreign language.

"Ramen!" Obito cheered, leaving Rin's grasp as he flipped up the curtain in which steam rose out of. The place was practically a shack, having a kitchen placed up front, a wooden table and stools sat in front. I kind of liked the set up. Like this, you could watch the food be prepared. But I guess that was the point in a ninja village. No funny business.

"Oh, hello there, haven't seen you three in a while," an elderly man said, grinning at my companions. His gaze then slid my way, his smile growing ever so slightly, "And who is this?"

"Sata Miyazaki," Obito introduced just as I opened my mouth. I nodded nonetheless.

"How old are you, kid?"

Sweat nearly dropped as I thought it through. How old _was_ this body? Which also brought me to the question as to why I didn't mind being in another person's _dead_ body. And I had yet to see it in a mirror. Hastily, I gave a lie.

"I'm six." Well that seemed acceptable if a little too young to be healing half dead people, but oh well. Hatori should have given me more information. I gave a half-assed glare his way.

"Are you training yet?"

"Training?"

"To be a shinobi."

"Uh, no."

"Well, you had the look so I thought maybe," the old man laughed. "It's nice to meet you , Sata-chan. My own son is a bit older, but perhaps you can get along. His name is Teuchi."

"Maybe," I murmured, growing shy as he stared at me.

"I suppose you're hungry! What will be your orders?"

After everybody got their orders in—Kakashi staring at Obito suspiciously, Rin trying to keep the two from fighting, and I practically gorging myself—I started to get the sense that something was wrong about all this. I felt out of place, for lack of a better way to explain it.

Like I was an outsider.

I said nothing as the three argued, sometimes laughing. I didn't have any clue what to say to them or even knew if it was okay if I joined. From the looks of it, they were busy catching up with each other and it was a well-deserved reunion.

Childish of me, but looking at them gave me the sense I had always had while growing up and attending class. It was like I didn't belong here. And that's the truth. My presence was foreign. I wasn't meant to be in this world, this story.

It almost felt as if... as if I were invisible.

Not a bad thing, I told myself. It was a bad thing to expect attention though, wasn't it?

Buh!

Whatever.

It was when it came time for the four of us to leave that one of them spoke to me. It was Rin, her eyes gleaming with joy and that same curiosity as before.

"So, who are you going to stay with?"

"Obito-nii-san," I murmured as I sipped the rest of the delicious broth, "but only for a bit."

"A bit?"

"I—."

"You better not say you're leaving because you sure as hell aren't," Hatori said to me, his ice blue eyes growing even colder. As if he knew what I had been thinking.

That's right. As long as I'm under the contract, I will never be an insider. I'll remain an outsider, a social life unnecessary for as long as this demon hangs onto me. I sighed.

But the others were staring at me, curious. I had to answer.

"I don't want to be a burden."

* * *

 **A Demon's Deception - End**

* * *

Questionnaire;

1) Thoughts on Sata's character?

2) Expectations for the future of this fic?

3) Any pairings you'd like to suggest?


	3. A Demon's Lie

**A/N:** A quick update! Join my discord (link on my profile), for a chance to read ahead.

* * *

 **Falling**

* * *

 **3**

* * *

"So, what are your plans, Sata-chan?" Obito asked me, frowning and for a tiny moment I considered shrugging, to play it off and leave the question unanswered. But years of dealing with similar circumstances left me with wanting to be honest. Curse my whimsical choices.

"I don't know actually." That would be an understatement.

"Hmm, maybe you should just become a shinobi!"

I had to restrain myself from laughing. I mean, sure, it was a good option for _him_ but hello, civilian?

"Tell him you want that," Hatori earnestly whispered at my side and I inwardly cursed. Outwardly, I had no reaction to the demon but I obeyed, no telling what would happen if I didn't.

"Is it possible that I could start? I mean, being a shinobi looks kind of cool." And deadly as hell.

"Let's see... first we'd have to assemble some data on you... should I go ask Minato-sensei?" He wondered the last bit aloud, then nodded, "Let's go find Minato-sensei—besides, he needs to know I'm good and healthy."

"You must be the cause of many headaches," I murmured in good nature. "How could you forget that your teacher is probably in mourning?"

Obito, perhaps with a guilty conscious, scratched the back of his head, "Sorry, I'm not much of an older brother figure yet, am I? I tend to overlook things..."

"You're fine," I informed him smoothly with a smile.

* * *

 **A Demon's Lie**

* * *

Obito led us to the supposed home of 'Minato-sensei', a modest dwelling with a mixed traditional and modern feel. I liked it, as there was a miniature garden out front, hanging lowly by chains. They were filled with pretty flowers, poisonous ones but pretty nonetheless.

I suppose I should be grateful that I took a class on plant life, having learned a great deal about the features that mark for a poisoned growth. The class was fun, nearly changing my choice to go into politics and instead learn botany. But botany was something my sisters mocked my interests for.

At the ache of longing, I decided it was best not to dwell on the past.

Obito knocked on the door, interrupting my thoughts, "Oi! Minato-sensei! Open up!"

Nearly a split second later, the door came open, showcasing a red haired woman. I nearly fell back at the sight of her demonic hair, fluttering in every which way, her brows creased in anger.

"Eep!" Obito and I chorused, moving to clutch onto each other for dear life.

Then the woman suddenly stopped, her hair falling limp as she took in the sight of Obito. She blinked, "Obito Uchiha? How...?"

"The one and only!" The one eyed boy shouted, mustering up the courage to be so forward, "Is Minato-sensei home, Kushina-san?"

"He's home," Kushina murmured, face falling into worry, "Hurry up and get in here. I'm assuming this isn't a cruel prank being pulled and you're legit. If you prove to be any different," her tone dropped to sinister level, "watch out."

Obito didn't waste anytime as he grabbed my hand, leading me into the house. I wasn't sure if I could trust Obito any longer, he was proving to be rather dangerous to my health.

"Oh... who's this?" Kushina called from behind us as Obito led me down a hallway.

I angled my body her way as I answered, "I am Sata Miyazaki, pleasure to meet you, Kushina-san."

"Oh, manners! Wish you had some Obito-kun."

"Oi! I have manners!"

"Many would say otherwise," a new voice interjected. I turned again, bumping into Obito's back when he made an abrupt stop. Glaring solemnly, I rubbed at my sore nose. Kid had one thick back.

"Minato-sensei!" Obito spoke up cheerfully, "I'm back."

There was a moment of silence before footsteps approached. I had to peer around Obito's back in order to see but when I did... I froze. Here before me was possibly the most handsome, most beautiful and just all around godly man. Was his name Adonis or was I jumping the gun? But no, if I heard correctly, this was Minato. Minato the Adonis.

Ado-Minato had the look of someone terribly conflicted on his face. He had traces of happiness in his eyes but the slight crease to his brows made him look uncertain. When he spoke again, I about melted, "Is that really you, Obito-kun? You've been through the gates and everything, right?"

He nodded.

"We were even in T&I—totally uncool place, I tell you."

"T&I? So it really is you!"

These people seem to have a lot of faith in that branch of power. It's rather funny how easily I got passed it. Heh.

"Well, of course!"

"Come in, come in," Minato started, ushering the two of us into a room with couches. That's all I cared about frankly, as I was suddenly aware of how exhausted I was. It seemed this body wasn't in the best state when I came to inhabit it. First of all, it was underfed, malnourished and out of shape. Not something good enough to keep up with a shinobi.

As soon as the sofa came into sight, I hurried forward, tugging Obito along as I took a seat. When he begrudgingly came to sit besides me, I clung to his arm and leaned on him. Once I got comfortable, I let out a content sigh.

"So what happened to you? Kakashi and Rin said that you had been crushed beneath a boulder. They said it was... bad."

"It was pretty horrible. I thought I was going to die but then she came along."

"She?" Minato came to rest his brilliant bright blue eyes on me. I felt the flush of my face heating up when his stare grew intent.

"What did she do?" Kushina asked, her own eyes lighting up with curiosity.

"She healed me, obviously."

"No, not obviously. She's just a kid. Who are you?" Kushina turned to me, frowning as she tried to work out the meaning of my existence.

"Sata Mi—."

"Not the name. Where are you from, who taught you to heal?"

I discreetly gave Hatori the stink eye. This was all his fault. The little twerp shrugged, smiling easily at me.

"I... don't have a certain place I came from. I've always traveled with my dad, it was him who taught me. But I didn't use the..."

"Mystical Palm," Hatori whispered, coming to sit next to me with a devious smile.

"Mystical Palm," I continued uneasily, "I used my blood to heal him."

"Who knew you would be so honest with strangers," Hatori murmured, almost jokingly, "Well, it suits our purpose."

"Blood?" Minato asked, alarmed.

I looked to the demon questioningly. He shrugged.

"Master says you should just tell them you have a kekkei genkai and get it over with."

"Kekkei genkai?" I asked, but as it stood, my question wasn't to be answered. I suspect me asking that aloud had something to do with it. I really need to figure out a way to converse with that demon discreetly.

"A bloodline trait? So your blood heals."

I nodded, and then before I could do much of anything else, Hatori possessed my body.

 _Hey!_

 **Cal̶m͞ d͡o͢wn, I'm o̶nl̷y h̀e͞l͏p̴i̸nǵ ̛yo̴u̡ ͜out ͏o͏f ͟a͠ t̸o̶ugh ͝s̛ituati̴o̧ņ. T҉hese̷ two͠ pe͘o͝p̕le a̷r҉e no͢ ̢ląu͢g̶hi̶n̢g ̨m̕a͟t͡t̛e͢r.̛**

This wasn't Hatori. This voice was a man's, deep and husky, seeming to rumble throughout my consciousness.

 _Who are you?_

 **I̢ a͡m͘ t̛h̨e M҉a͜s̵ţe͘r̡, o̡bv̢i͘ously  
**

M-master?

 **L҉ook͜ ̨ki͢d, ҉d҉o̢n't̴ mak̷è th͡įs a̶ bíg͟ d̷ea͝l,̸ ̕jus̸t̴ g̸o͟ ̶a̢lo͡nǵ ́with̵ ̀it.**

 _I don't get this at all, ugh, demons are all_ confusing.

 **We̢l̵l̡, t̴his̡ cơnfusing de͞m̶on ͢ìs go͞ing ͞t͞o͏ make th͠ings̶ ̴e̢a҉sie̢r fo̴r you͞,͢ s̨o ͢wat̸c͘h̨ àǹd̵ ̴l̕ea͏r̵n.**

"My blood has the ability to convert into compatible chakra once it has scanned the victim's DNA, by way of saliva. By way of ingesting," I felt my body say, my expression shifting into that of confidence. "In the case of where I healed Obito, I let him consume a drop of my converted chakra and from there my blood worked on restoring his chakra coils, and healing his body while I commanded it to do so, understand?"

How very complicated.

"I think I do," Minato said, eyes shifting as he looked to Kushina, "have you heard of anything like that?"

"No, well, yes. I've heard of something like it but nothing to that extent. Am I correct in assuming that you can use this kekkei genkai in combat?"

"No and yes. I am not trained for combat and there are certain drawbacks to using it. But in theory I would be able to shift the conversion to be incompatible with the victim and it would deteriorate the chakra coils in reverse to what I did for Obito."

Yeah, and waste ten years of my life doing it each time. But this guy was actually making sense if I was correct in assuming that chakra was what made the world go round.

"Are you interested in becoming a ninja?" Minato asked and abruptly I was in control of my body, the demon's presence lingering as I heard his parting words.

 **D͞o̴ ҉ḿe p̶r͏o͝ud,̨ ̕w̶i̛ll ͜y̡o͘u,̴ d̀a̴r̨l̶in̴g͞?**

"That's actually why we came here for," Obito said, speaking up for the first time in a while, "I was wondering if you could help her getting enlisted in Konoha's database as a student. Right now she's just a traveler."

"Of course we can help, and I'm certain the Hokage can find suitable living arrangements for her once he's aware of her ability. Sata Miyazaki, right?" Minato said and I tried to ignore the flutter of butterflies in my stomach when he acknowledged me. But something in his words gnawed at me.

 _Once he's aware of her ability._

Meaning, that Minato and Kushina were going to turn me in to be used as a weapon. This country was at war currently so that wouldn't be a totally unthinkable train of thought. But at the same time I wanted to stay with Obito—pretty much the only person I was comfortable with.

"Tell him you want to be with Obito. Master wants us to stick close to the ugly bastard."

"He's not ugly," I couldn't resist muttering under my breath, but I looked at Minato with a smile, "If you wouldn't mind, I'd prefer staying with Obito-nii-san for a bit."

"Nii-san?" Kushina inquired with a quirky grin, "So you're finally a big brother, ne, Obito-kun?"

"The best of the best!" Obito announced with a grin, and I giggled, appreciating the Uchiha's boisterous attitude.

Minato and Kushina both followed in my laughter and the former later moved closer to Obito, placing his hand on the one eyed boy's shoulder, "It's good to have you back."

* * *

 **A Demon's Lie**

* * *

"Man, oh, man. How am I going to tell Mikoto-san and Uchiha-san that I'm not dead? If we tell them the truth so soon, they're sure to jump on you like a shark," Obito complained loudly, carrying my drained body on his back as we made our way to his home. His thick back was good for something. Still...

I blinked, "Shark?"

"Yeah, if they figure that you got a kekkei genkai, especially one like yours, they'll pounce on you."

"In what way would they pounce?" I asked curiously, as I snuggled into his warmth.

"Well, firstly they might enlist you as an honorary member of the family, and take your kekkei genkai as a weapon for themselves. If other clans find out about it, who knows what kind of arguments there will be?"

"Oh. Well then, what are we going to do?"

"Just hold off until we talk to the Hokage, I guess," Obito gave a pause before going on in a mumble, "Either way, I'll protect you, no problem."

I flushed at such bold words, something I definitely wasn't used to. Back in my old world, no one would ever think to say such things. Unless you were royalty or a wanted man, there wasn't much of a need for protection.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, little sis!"

After a moment of comfortable silence left us, I suddenly wondered aloud, "Hey, what are you going to do about your eye?" It also brought me to the point that, oh, hey, I should have something on my eye, but no one had said anything about it to me. Maybe it was like Hatori, invisible to others.

"Ah! Oh no, Sata-chan!" Obito shouted vehemently.

"I—What?"

"They're going to take it away from Kakashi-teme!"

"What's so bad about that?" That asshole didn't deserve it anyway, no matter how much I recall my sister's obsession with him.

"It was a gift, silly! You can't just take a gift back!"

I sighed. Okay, perhaps I should help Obito in what little way I can.

"Can you sneak us to your home without being noticed by anyone of importance? It'll give us a chance to go over our choices. Though I'm on the side of saying that Kakashi-teme should help if he wants to keep that freaking eye."

"Oh, good idea, we should get Kakashi-teme's help."

I stayed quiet after that, content on listening to Obito's breathing.

"Ah, you're pretty tired, aren't you? How about taking a bath when we get home though? I'll get you some better clothes and everything."

"I'd like that," I murmured softly.

* * *

 **A Demon's Lie**

* * *

After getting comfortable on the spare futon Obito had lent me, I waited only until I heard the Uchiha's breaths turn steady and even before climbing out and kicking the already sleeping Hatori awake.

We needed to talk.

"You can be a bit more gentle! Stupid," Hatori tacked on while he gave me an irritated glare.

"Do you have some stupid kiss of pain that will get us to have some freaking telepathic connection?" I hissed out, staring at the demon intently.

"Kiss of pain?" He had on a thoughtful expression before his blue eyes lit up, "Oh, when I make contracts? Yeah! But it'll cost you!"

"What do you want?"

"Only your first born!"

"No way!" I hissed brutally.

"Tch. I was only kidding," Hatori pouted before moving closer, "How about... just simply one more request."

"Alright," I already had, what, two more things to do, now that I saved Obito. What was one more thing?

"So that means you have to complete four more tasks still."

"What?!" I yelped then quickly slapped my mouth to quiet myself. Can't wake up Obito, stupid.

"Well, I haven't ordered you to do anything."

"You've ordered me around plenty, demon."

"That's where you're wrong. See, us demons are quite the stickler for details. Unless I say 'I order thee', I haven't used one of my requests."

"So, this whole time I could have been disobeying? Arghh, stupid, stupid!" I hissed at myself quietly.

"Well, and you wasted your chance at losing one of my requests," Hatori smiled mischiefly, "I was going to order you to kill Obito but this has worked better than I thought it would."

"Why would you want him killed?"

"He was an antagonist that Master loathed."

This 'Master' guy was getting pretty weird.

"So..." I started, deciding to let that conversation drop, let bygones be bygones, "kiss of pain?"

"Right," Hatori affirmed as he leaned forward to kiss my eye once again. The searing pain once more embedded itself into my awareness as I moved to clutch my head, groaning as it continued on.

 _ **Hear me?**_

 _Yes, unfortunately._

* * *

 **A Demon's Lie**

* * *

"So, your name is Sata Miyazaki," the man with the title of Hokage said to me as I stood nervously before him.

"Correct," I mumbled.

"I see," the old man gave me a droll stare. He wasn't really old, only looking to be in his mid-forties. However, his eyes, dark and seeming to know a treasure of secrets, made him seem far more wizened, "I have been informed by Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki that you have a kekkei genkai."

Right to the point, I see. This world gave me no such thing as rest.

"Yes."

"They've also said you've expressed interest in joining the ranks of shinobi."

"Yes."

"How soon would you like to start?"

"As soon as possible."

"Are you comfortable with using your bloodline trait for the sake of Konoha."

No. "Yes." Shit.

"You realize a rush order would be placed on you once you enter the Academy. We'd need you in the war as soon as possible."

"How much time would I be given to learn...?"

"Two years at the most," he paused, giving me a scrutinizing look, "combative skills wouldn't be prioritized as you would stand purely as a medic."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, before that, are you prepared to take a loyalty test?"

"Yes," I squeaked out, "but may I ask what it entails?"

He laughed.

"You'll see."

* * *

 **A Demon's Lie**

* * *

The test included three things: a written exam, a spoken exam, and a physical exam. These exams, as I'm sure is doubtless, were formed and specific in the way that it weeded out the ones with less than savory intentions.

The written exam was simple, mere questions and inquiries of the person you viewed yourself to be, how you expressed loyalty, whether, in theory, you were prepared to die. The spoken one was similar, but this one was tested with a strange blond man around, who put his hands on your head as you answered.

Disconcerting, but easy stuff.

However, nothing could have prepared me for the physical exam.

In reality, it might have been better if it were known as a mental exam, as it had nothing to do with the physical body. Instead, the blond man from before put his hand right back onto my forehead, and suddenly a shock wave was sent throughout my system. It only stung, nothing close to the agony that the kiss of pain brought. But it was alarming nonetheless.

It made me lose consciousness, my sense of self being brought to a completely different place. The transfer felt much like being turned to liquid, my body being lost and instead I slipped through the cracks of what looked to be a splintered mirror. But that horrible journey soon came to an end as I found myself in the middle of a forested area.

Great.

I stood, surprised at how physical everything was. I ended up having to swipe away dust from my skirt—wait. I hadn't been wearing this...

Before I had time to think, something sailed through the air. I moved, ever so slightly to the right, and was surprised to find the sharp intense pain of having my ear sliced.

Shocked, I yelped loudly before I scuttled backward, only to be in danger once more when another object was thrown. Shit, shit, shit. I dodged, only barely, as I began to run, refusing to be hurt again. I was no masochist, thank you very much.

The objects made quick pursuit as I traveled through the forest, ignoring the stinging feel of my face being whipped by branches. I scrambled over uneven ground as I breathlessly escaped larger damage by way of sharp knife-like weapons.

"You can stop this," a voice called to me, "if you hand over the scroll."

Scroll? Almost simultaneously I noticed for the first time that I carried a rolled and wrapped up piece of paper. With this revelation, it fell into place what this was meant for. I was being tested on whether I'd give up sensitive information in the face of danger. But this test was also being adjusted for a child. I could possibly end this little mind test quickly if I resisted. They wouldn't intentionally scar a child for life, right?

Decision made, I picked up a fallen piece of wood left from my carnage when I was fleeing, then the enemy came into view.

It was a nondescript, almost too plain to take notice, sort of guy. In fact, his face resembled that of clay sculpture than that of a man. The details were lacking in realism, and the expression definitely needed some fine tuning if it ever wanted to look menacing. But to a child, this may actually freak them out more. Children worked by being able to identify things. Sights and sounds were very important things. Someone as unidentifiable as this man would freak out most kids. But it's safe to say I am not most kids.

I bared my teeth at him, intent on proving myself, "No, it doesn't matter what you say! I will protect this information with my life!"

"But why would you want to sacrifice yourself for such a silly thing? Wouldn't you rather live life and continue on? What's so great about Konoha?" The man said, his voice having a tinge of bad acting to it, sounding hollow in meaning.

So the victim isn't supposed to be aware that they are _really_ in this reality. Which means something is off about myself. Oh well, must be the demon blood. Besides, I had a flair for the dramatic as well. With fervour, I responded.

"I'm willing to sacrifice myself so that others may live on, to prosper and hopefully be a memory that is alive in that regard. I would rather this information, which may be the key to many lives, be safe. Thus, if I have to, this scroll will be destroyed along with myself."

Woah, was I getting too into my role? I mean, who would want to die with a piece of paper? Although I had brought up a valid point.

"Why do you want to protect those lives?"

Huh? That question... it was almost as if the voice was gaining personality. It brought up strong memories, images of my sisters laughing after I bought them ice cream, their screams when the roller coaster dropped into oblivion, and the look on their faces when I announced our father had died.

All these things... they had meaning, but in them, I was practically nothing. A robot, doing what it could to serve.

But that wasn't it. That was wrong. I didn't just want to _serve_. I wanted to—I wanted to—.

"I want to protect their lives so that... my death will have meaning. So that my sacrifice will be their reason to live and spread the disease that is life itself. So that when I die, something bigger will go on," I drew in a ragged breath. "Until I draw my final breath, I have to serve this cruel, cruel world. All in order for it to keep on spinning."

Gosh, I was such a sap sometimes.

But it did something.

Almost as soon as I ended my tirade, I was slipping and falling through the cracks once more until I felt something brushing across my forehead.

"Well done, little shinobi, you've passed."

* * *

 **A Demon's Lie - End**

* * *

Questionnaire;

1) Is the zalgo text when the master talks readable?

2) Favorite part of this chapter?

3) Character you're hoping for more interactions with in the future?


	4. A Demon's Training

**A/N:** Yo.

* * *

 **Falling**

* * *

 **4**

* * *

The first time I saw this new body's face, I froze in shock.

This body was not something I was expecting. Perhaps, because of my past life, I expected to be thrown into a boring, simplistic and totally unassuming carcass who was fully capable of blending into the shadows. Heh, no. No. Just... no.

First, I woke, yawning as I did so. Then I had rubbed the sleep from my eyes, looking to where Obito laid, snoring heavily. It was still rather early, dark out. But I had always been an early riser. Slowly, because I was suddenly met with a strong desire to use the restroom, I crawled to the Uchiha and when I was close enough, I nudged him.

His eyes slid open, blinked at me, before he sat up, eyes heavy with sleep, "What is it, Sata-chan?"

"Bathroom," I whispered, face suddenly flaming at having to say the word. I thanked heaven I didn't say anything as childish as 'potty'. Or should I thank hell? Hmm. No, I had my pride.

He blinked once more before nodding as he climbed out of his futon. When he was standing, he offered his hand. Which I took hesitantly before letting him guide me to his bathroom. When we came there, a very short walk, he awkwardly stood there for a brief second before asking, "Do you need me to stay with you?"

I shook my head frantically, flushing with embarrassment, "No."

He nodded once before leaving, yawning as he did so and I was soon left alone.

When I entered the room, I couldn't help was exhale in relief that this place was fairly modern. Sure, there was the weird "squatting" toilet that I had used a few times before when I went abroad in high school. But I was used to that.

Thankfully, there was a sink—or rather a bucket with a hose that hung loosely on a rack above. Two knobs seemed to represent the hot water and cold water. Above this strange bucket sink, was a mirror, slightly smudged and aged with time but a mirror nonetheless.

Quickly, as I couldn't wait much longer, I relieved myself, thanking the stars that this world had such a thing as toilet paper, as there was a half-used roll close by. I then washed my hands and was suddenly hit with a sparking curiosity.

 _Huuuuh._

I looked around, finding a shoved aside stool as I picked it up only to place it in front of the the sink and mirror. Then I stepped on it, wondering if I'd still be too short.

I wasn't, if I tip-toed.

But then I was not really concerned with height when I looked into those shockingly pretty amber eyes, both slightly different from the other. Green flecks dotted the right, where as a strange symbol was lit a vibrant red in the left. But the amber overpowered these things easily, the color brilliantly shining on a child whose intelligence shone so obviously.

A small, heart shaped face, a smattering of freckles, small lips and nose, and a jaw that was a tad bit angular. It looked kind of like a boy's face, but with a softness that belonged only to girls. The only thing was that this body was underfed, and it was clearly evident in the sunken cheeks and prominent bone structure.

The short black hair looked healthy enough, if not for a few split ends and grease from a lack of washing, but it was fairly untangled even from the night's rest. It was uneven however—one side proving to be longer than the other, leaning awkwardly and framing the face in a slightly unflattering way. But it didn't change one fact.

This body, Miho's body, was someone who would have grown to be elegantly beautiful, stunning even, if she had been given the chance to live.

And that's when it hit.

The guilt.

Here I was, having a second chance at life, and she was dead, long gone. I had stolen what made Miho Saeki, Miho Saeki. And now I was Sata Miyazaki, a body thief.

Not wanting to dwell on what I couldn't change, I turned away, washed my hands and went back to bed.

* * *

 **A Demon's Training**

* * *

 _One Week Later_

"Obito-nii-san!" I shouted, huffing out in annoyance. This kid was worse than my seven year old sister, always flitting off to somewhere or other. You would think that he'd have a hint of self preservation, yet every morning it was the same thing.

We both—him dragging me along and I reluctantly allowing him to—helped many of the elderly and middle aged folks in the village. Every morning, we would help Hoshira-san, Maharashi-san, Akagaki-san and countless others, if I didn't stop him. We would help with groceries, finding lost items, cleaning, walking the pets, and nearly anything you shouldn't be doing when you _had to get to training_.

Usually, I didn't complain much. But today was different. Today was _my_ first day—At the Academy.

Adon—ahem—Minato and the Hokage had carried through on their word, allowing me to start the academy as quickly as possible. And I would be expected to graduate within the next two years. Thus I had to _be in school_ , and certainly not helping people who could have easily been getting the genin to do those things. I had read the book Hatori had given me, I know what I'm talking about. By now, Obito must hold some kind of record on how many D-ranks he'd completed, unofficial or not. I assumed it to be in the thousands.

"Huh!?" Obito called back, him walking farther ahead of me. I loathed these short stubby legs. I decided to run, even if I was still technically recovering from being underfed and shouldn't be doing anything that required energy. But whatever, I don't play by the rules.

"Obito-nii-san, we aren't going that direction," I said stubbornly, thanking the fact that when the Hokage had a genin escort me around the village, the kid had given me directions that strayed away from the market to get to the Academy. The market was our death.

"Eh, why not? I promised Emino-san that I'd help him wit—."

"Obito-nii-san," I interrupted, firmly, "I will not be late on my first day. If you really want to help, I won't stop you but I'll be going on ahead of you."

He studied me, looking thoughtful even as he had his headband covering his missing eye. It was always a bit alarming when I took note of the fact that he still missed his eye. He had managed, probably out of pure luck, to avoid the Uchiha head and clan meetings that required his presence on deciding what to do with Kakashi. I think Minato was a bit of the cause for that however.

Obito's missions always took him out of the clan district as soon as he was summoned.

They were still coming up with a plan of action on how to let Kakashi, who still insisted on being an asshole, keep the eye. I say they, because I had given up on being _any_ help whatsoever. There wasn't much a kid like me could to, after all.

"Okay. Well, then I guess I'll see," Obito paused, as if testing my reaction. I couldn't help the slight pout. It seems he was going to go help Emino-san, even if it meant missing my first day. I was already nervous as it was, stupid. He continued, as if the beat hadn't occurred, "Emino-san later today. I need to support my little sister, right?"

Immediately, the frown fell away, only to be replaced with a grin when I let slip a totally mortifying girlish giggle. The habits of this body were astounding. I flushed, clamping my hand over my mouth.

"Let's get going," Obito chuckled out, and I nodded, hoping for that moment to be burned forever in the past.

However, the smile didn't fade.

* * *

 **A Demon's Training**

* * *

"Okay class!" a stern, aging old man said gruffly, "this is our newest student, Sata Miyazaki. Please treat her well." He turned to me, "do you want to introduce yourself?"

I nodded, standing taller as I stood at the front of a big room, filled entirely with smirks and smug grins. I could do this. I wouldn't let little children scare me, even if these children were being trained to be killing machines and would probably ruthlessly tear me to shreds if they thought I was weak. But I had _practiced this_ , I was prepared to introduce myself.

"Hello, I am Sata Miyazaki. I prefer a simple 'Sata', with no need for honorifics. I am starting here to become a loyal kunoichi to Konohagakure, and I aim to be helpful to my fellow shinobi and kunoichi. With that said, I will _not_ tolerate any childish pranks happening to me. If it happens, I will find you and I will hurt you."

Seriously. I had read Kushina's backstory in the demon book and hell to the no would I stand to be treated as an outsider in such a way. I had my pride. I gave them all my best glare, which probably just made me look like a frumpy kitten. But the amber eyes were intense so maybe, just maybe I wouldn't be picked on.

"Wonderful," the old man said, "Sata-kun, you may sit in that empty spot next to Inori Yamanaka." A pale slender hand shot up helpfully, and my eyes fell on the sight of a rather pretty girl. She had blonde hair, cut short, and brilliantly beautiful blue eyes. She looked fairly small and dainty. I walked up to her hesitantly, nodding at her as I took my seat. I wasn't used to such beautiful people acknowledging my presence. In the past, I had only been "that one smart nerd" and the pretty people hadn't mixed well with myself. Not for lack of trying.

"Hi," she murmured, nodding toward me demurely, "pleasure to meet you."

I smiled a small smile, "thank you."

And that was that.

"Alright class, firstly, who can tell me what a hand seal is?"

Inori's hand shot up and I saw a few other people roll their eyes at her. Huh.

"Yes, Inori-kun?"

"A hand seal is an array of selected actions that instigate the use of ninjutsu, genjutsu and other secret arts."

I looked at the textbook in my hand, one that had been given to me along with a few other supplies when I had been to the principal's office. Her words had been straight out of the textbook. I studied the girl even more closely. She reminded me of myself in the past. The overachiever who hated not _knowing_. I myself had taken to memorizing whole entire books just for the sake of being acknowledged as the top of my class. I wasn't the valedictorian for nothing. Although it probably had a bit to do with my temper...

"Excellent, Inori-kun, now class, what is a kekkei genkai?"

My hand shot up like lightning. Huh? Shit. God freaking damnit. Habits die pretty hard, don't they?

"Yes, Sata-kun?"

"Uh...a technique limited to inheritance by blood. A bloodline limit."

"Great," the old man cracked a smile, "can you name the clans with known kekkei genkai in Konoha?"

I didn't know. Shit.

Ugh, which ones!? Seems I was going to have to study even more tonight.

"Uchiha, er, Hyuuga, and...I don't know the others."

My new teacher thankfully took pity on me.

"Passable."

I exhaled in relief.

I didn't catch the particularly nasty glare Inori Yamanaka had sent me.

* * *

 **A Demon's Training**

* * *

"Now, see here, Sata-kun," the old teacher was saying to me as I gazed at my classmates. They were all practicing throwing kunai, most of them failing horribly, and others (clan kids, I assume) were doing great for their young ages and sizes. Their motions were fluent and gracefully fierce. Their techniques slightly differed from each other, probably shifting as clan teachings were different, but the accuracy was no different.

"Yes?"

"Since you've been put on a rush order, we'll be doing something different with you. You'll be learning taijutsu and weapons with the upperclassmen."

I frowned, "Oh..."

"Follow me."

I did so as the old man led me away from my class's training ground and to another, one that was larger in size and with far more equipment. While I stayed a few meters behind, my teacher went up to a burly looking man. They spoke exchanging words that were probably about me and then the old man nodded towards me, jumping away with a surprising speed when he made his departure. The burly man came forward.

"I'm Jun Takesawa, I'll be your instructor for taijutsu and weapons."

I bowed politely, "Nice to meet you, I am Sata Miyazaki."

"Well Sata-kun, as you're just beginning here, I'll be getting one of my better students to run through a few katas with you, and teach you the basics of weaponry."

I bobbed my head in understanding as Jun turned away to call for a certain alarming name, "Itachi Uchiha, come forward, I have a task for you!"

Wait. No. No. No.

Just.

No.

Why me? Why was I the one stuck with a genius, clan destroying _monster_? I mean, sure, the kid was under orders to do so and he was a man of peace, yada yada ya. But still. He _killed his entire clan in a single night._ That's a whole lot of scary! Or, at least, in the future he would. I mean, he was supposed to be apart of the Akatsuki, after all. That practically marked him as dangerous to unassuming girls who knew the future thanks to a book given by a demon.

Besides, I was also trying to _avoid_ the main house.

A rather cute boy stepped forward, black silky hair being ruffled by the wind. Somehow, he managed to look completely epic as he continued to step closer. He stopped a few inches from Jun and I, looking up with a questioning expression.

"Itachi-kun, I'll need you to give this girl a walkthrough on all she'll need to do to get up to speed with your class."

The Uchiha gave a brief nod, solemn eyes looking to me in question as Jun stepped away to help with some kid that almost poked his eye out with a kunai.

"Name?"

"S-Sata Miyazaki!"

"Miyazaki-san, follow."

"Yes, U-Uchiha-san," I winced inwardly as I thought of how awkward I sounded then. But it was neither here nor there. I was just terrified for my well being.

After an hour, I soon realized something enormous. Itachi did not care for me. When I would get hurt—because, let's face it, I'm pretty clumsy—he would only say the word 'again'.

But it was never said with contempt or annoyance. He merely saw that I was well enough to continue and wanted me to try the kata again. Somehow, this set me at ease. I was used to people being indifferent to me. This was familiar ground, _comfortable_ ground.

So when he told me to start again, his expression as stoic as ever, I found myself grinning and pushing myself to perform the twists and turns that the kata required of me. It was a rather 'monkey-see-monkey-do' kind of situation. He'd show me what it looked like, walk through the steps briefly, and watch me perform.

The only thing I did not like, as prepared as I should have been for it, was the infuriating fact that Itachi Uchiha was the most elegant boy I'd ever been around. When I attempted to do the things he'd do, my actions came out sloppy and gross. His movements, _all of them_ , were filled with purpose and meaning, his eyes mirroring the emotion in a solemn expression.

The human body was made for achievement, I'm well aware. Thanks to dopamine being produced when the mind has a sense of victory, it was an addictive thing that sent humans to begin trying harder. It was also why, when you failed, you got angry. The anger wasn't meant to deter you, however, it was to _make you try harder._

I, however, lacked the stamina that would allow me to do so.

By the end of practice, when I was so tired I couldn't move, I was pissed off. Itachi's actions had been too perfect for a perfectionist like me to top. While I lacked movement, I did _not_ lack motivation.

When the classes we switching, me panting roughly, Itachi helped me to my feet, only to say, "Get some rest, you seem to need it."

My face flushed brighter than it had already been. Urgk, stupid know-it-all brat.

Tomorrow I would definitely show him!

Er, if I could move that is.

* * *

 **A Demon's Training**

* * *

"Hey, Sata-san!" I heard my name called just as I spun, wincing as my muscles throbbed from soreness. I met the gaze of none other than blue orbs that gazed intently at me.

"Yes, Inori-san?"

"Are you aiming to be my rival or something?"

Huh? I gazed at her reproachfully. What kind of—.

"You were trying to show off weren't you? Well let me tell you something—."

"No." I spun on my heel and walked away, intent on making it home—to sleep—before something crazy happened. I had found in the past that it was easier to ignore challenging weirdos who had nothing better to do.

"Oi! Wait up! I'm not finished!"

"Well, I am," I called back to her, sighing. I had actually thought she would be _normal_ , that perhaps I'd be able to obtain a friend much like myself. I should have known to never hope.

"I'll get you tomorrow, idiot!"

"Sure, sure."

* * *

 **A Demon's Training**

* * *

"So how was school?" Obito asked, grinning at me from across the tiny table that we ate dinner at. It was something I made this time. Obito wasn't a bad cook, but as I practically raised my sisters, I was a master compared to him. So lately, I'd been doing the shopping, cleaning, and cooking. It was what I did to earn my keep, as I couldn't pay Obito with money when I had no way to earn anything.

Tonight I had brought in a western style dish, hamburgers. Obito, for whatever reason, _adored_ hamburgers. It might be because we didn't have to use chopsticks but the dish was becoming something of a tradition. It was time-consuming. Things like ketchup had not been invented, sadly. So I stuck to making handmade sides and the like. But it was all worth it, when Obito's eye lit up and his grin domineered his face.

"It was okay," I groaned out, getting back to the topic at hand, "I'm tired though."

"School work too hard?" he asked and I looked at him curiously.

"If it was," I started, my tone testing, "would you help me?"

"Yeah! But I can't say if you'd get them all right. I, er, wasn't the best student."

I giggled, "No, I don't need help. It's actually pretty easy. I mean, it's just memorizing things. Besides," I paused, looking down at my half-eaten burger in thought, "It's all kind of interesting, don't you think?"

"It is but I was always more interested in the physical side of things," he smiled reassuringly, "You don't have to deal with that though, because you're just starting."

I shook my head, "That's exactly why I'm so exhausted. I started learning taijutsu today. You know, because of my kekkei genkai, I've been put on a rush order."

"Rush order...?"

"I have to graduate within the next two years because I'll be needed in terms of lowering the death rates."

Obito's brow scrunched up in thought, his eye gleaming critically as he spoke, "Are you kidding me? They shouldn't make you do that! You're still just a kid after all."

For whatever reason, his words warmed my heart. I went quiet, looking down at my hands as I tried to contain the giggle I wanted to release. It was just so... nice. It was very nice being looked after, to have someone who'd be willing to help me with school work, to have someone get angry for me.

Obito and I weren't even that _close_. Sure, we lived together but it was more like we were in separate worlds. Obito had others on his mind, and well I... I was used to being alone. Even Hatori wasn't much company as recently he'd taken to leaving me to go hang out with his master or something. Huh... how curious, I haven't actually seen the brat for a while. About three days now.

 _Hatori...?_

 _ **Would you mind not abusing this telepathic link? I have a hard enough time tuning out your nonsensical thoughts, I wouldn't want you**_ talking _ **to me.**_

 _Ugh, you're still as stupid as always. Whatever, it wasn't like I was worried about you, stupid,_ stuuupid _._

 _ **You're stupid, stupid.**_

 _Please no. Not this childish crap, moron!_

 _ **Bleh, whatever. I'm busy so leave me alone.**_

 _You leave_ me _alone._

I wasn't sure if I was glad that he didn't reply to that. Somehow, I got quite immature with the fool. I shook my head and looked up to find Obito staring at me curiously.

"It's fine, Obito-nii-san, I agreed to it."

* * *

 **A Demon's Training**

* * *

"Rin-san, I have a question," I started up, innocently smiling up at the brunette. She turned to me, smiling gently as she did so.

"What is it, Sata-chan?"

I was in the training fields with them for the day, as I didn't have any classes to attend so late in the evening.

Obito, along with Kakashi, were going at it like idiots, totally massacring the trees and shrubbery around. It was entertaining to say the least. But kind of annoying when Obito was trying so earnestly and Kakashi was just being an ass. If I hadn't read about his past, I would have given the boy lip for being so mean to Obito.

Or maybe, I should tell him off, despite that. I didn't need to _pity_ the jackass, after all.

Made me think though.

"Which one do you like more?" I asked, gesturing to the two buffoons.

"Eh...? That's hardly a r-relevant question," Rin said, a slight blush coming to her face.

"Well, I mean... you like Kakashi... don't you?"

"Ah! Shhh! Don't say it so loudly," the brunette jumped forward, clasping her hand to my mouth as her blush brightened. I frowned, my eyes narrowing.

Annoyed, I pushed her hand away, hissing out, "I don't get it. Obito-nii-san is totally _waaaay_ cooler than Bakashi."

She blinked, "Bakashi?"

"Yeah," I pouted, "he's pretty stupid, ya know. Emotionally stunted, I would say."

Rin laughed, probably not taking me seriously, "I don't think he's stupid at all."

I shook my head, "I don't understand. Obito-nii-san is a million times smarter than Bakashi."

Rin giggled, "Your perception of things is a bit off."

I growled, but tired with her stubbornness, I shrugged it off, merely saying, "So can you teach me more about the Mystical Palm?"

Despite her faults, she was good for something at least. Rin was an excellent teacher, and even better, she didn't blink a lash when she found that I knew _very_ little about medical jutsu. Since about three days ago, when I started joining Obito's team in training, I had been learning about medical jutsu and the like.

It was all very complicated. In order to heal, you had to understand the human body, the chakra points, and the control had to be rather precise. Unsurprisingly, Rin hadn't even started on teaching me how to form chakra. We were still on the basics as she taught me about the human body. In her lessons, my understanding of anatomy had come to increase phenomenally. Who would have thunk that the head didn't end with the jaw but instead it was the roof of the mouth?

With all this learning, it kind of made me feel slightly silly for having my past misconceptions.

"Now this pressure point is connected to this chakra valve," Rin droned on, gesturing to her body as well as the diagram of the human body. The picture showed a vast amount of strings, running throughout the entire diagram. It was meant to represent the chakra coils. It was always sort of amazed me, seeing that it all had a system.

"Sata-chan!" Obito's thunderous voice interrupted my thoughts as both Rin and I looked up, "We should head home!"

I stood, grinning for some strange, unknown reason.

"Yes, Obito-nii-san!" I turned to Rin, who had just stood herself, having already collected the many open books we had just spread around us, "See you later, Rin-sensei!"

"Study!" She hollered back but I was always racing on toward Obito. It was always so nice to have someone to walk home with, to eat dinner with... to _have_ a home with.

Obito and I still weren't close enough to be sharing our deep, dark secrets, but it was getting there, I suppose.

"Let's have hamburger," Obito said, as we left the training field and made our way to the Uchiha compound.

"With french fries."

"French fries?" he gave me a curious look.

"You'll see," I winked, then laughed as I ran ahead.

This happiness... I could almost see this life as being real, as if I existed in this place for a reason, a purpose. I could almost feel... like an insider.

But of course, not all things can stay the same for long.

Time had a funny way of changing things, even when you don't want it to.

* * *

 **A Demon's Training - End**

* * *

Questionnaire;

1) Have you been liking my character portrayals?

2) Who is your favorite character from Naruto in this generation? Mine is Gai, lol. Maybe yours will make more appearances!

3) Thoughts on her relationship with Itachi? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)


	5. A Demon's Proposition

**Falling**

* * *

 **5**

* * *

My first nightmare was one that drove me to tears.

It was so odd.

I had never been of the type to cry under duress. Ever.

When mom got drunk, I was fine. When dad left, I was fine. When I almost missed deadlines for family emergencies, I was fine. The truth was, I had managed to live as long as I had in my past life because I was fine. Not that, internally, I was.

But the lie was always something I could actually believe, if I pushed myself to do it.

This nightmare… was fundamentally different than anything I'd ever faced before.

The air was chilly, not helping in the slightest as a touch of something metallic hinted in the air. She looked shocked, eyes wide, but that didn't stop the hollow smile befalling her as Kakashi pulled back his hand. His own eyes, wide and terribly distraught…

I blinked it away, the thoughts and images that were involved.

It had been so close to reality, for one thing. So vivid that I had thought it was actually happening directly in front of my eyes.

Add the detail that I was watching Rin die, Kakashi give up on life, and Obito go insane, then well, you get my tears.

But I wasn't exactly sobbing, thank god. Nope, it was more like a silent freak out as I shook uncontrollably, only distantly hearing Hatori telling me to calm my shit. But the images refused to leave, sticking in my head obsessively.

The only time I managed to calm down was when I looked over to Obito, his sleeping face, consisting of an open mouth and slimy drool, convincing me that no, that dream hadn't been real. Rin was alive, Kakashi wasn't completely shattered, and Obito was sane. I was fine now, perfectly alright.

"Wow," Hatori said loudly when my tears stopped coming. "To think Master said you were the better option of your family."

I swallowed thickly, realizing what this meant. "You mean… if I hadn't won out your boss's favor… my sister would be dead? I would be… alive?" It had been difficult to get out. The idea of my dear sweet sister being dead was enough to sicken me. I clutched my stomach carefully.

"That's right. Master only chose you because it seemed your skills suited him more. I think he said… yeah, that you were more mature. She was kind of stupid, I think."

"She is not stupid!" I whispered out harshly, forgetting that I could have woken up Obito.

However, when I glanced over suspiciously, he only let loose a small groan, turning over in his bed. I released a sigh before continuing the conversation in my head.

 _My sister isn't stupid._

 _ **Are you kidding me? She was one of the best procrastinators ever. Master needs someone reliable.**_

 _Ugh… whatever. But… Hatori, what's so special about my family?_

 _ **Nothing. Do you honestly think you're the only human we've used? You're just one of many in thousands of different alternate universes.**_

 _Wait… so… that means you don't actually care if I succeed or not. If I die or live, right? I can just be replaced._

 _ **No. Do you need me to explain to you what it takes to keep you in this body? Master would hate to waste it. Besides, we need you alive.**_

It was a bit unsettling, knowing there had been others caught in the same trap as myself.

Was humanity really that gullible?

I guess so.

* * *

 **A Demon's Proposition**

* * *

School in the morning sucked balls.

Not only was I tired as hell from straining my body to keep up with the older kids, but I lacked the much needed sleep. And I think I forgot to study for the quiz, adding up to a less than stellar grade. Or maybe I passed?

I wouldn't know, most of what was on the quiz had been stuff I hadn't been there to learn. It was frustrating in a way. The book helped tons, but I couldn't help thinking that my sister would have been better at this. She would have loved to live in this world.

I guess it was a shit ton better than our past life. But if she had been placed here… would she have missed me? The thought was saddening. I sure as hell missed her. I missed her never ending jokes and relaxing aura. She always set my heart at ease, striking a balance in my life.

She would have been able to be a better sister to Obito. A nicer, and kinder sister.

It was like she always told me: 'to be happy, one must always strive to be wiser, kinder, and stronger than we already are'. All in hopes to break down the things that controlled us, the things that kept holding us back from our dreams. Never give up and all that jazz.

It was that kind of thing that made me get into college, made me successful.

So despite my exhaustion, and newly found depression, I struggled past it, looking to the brighter side. My sister was still fine, and alive. Hurt, perhaps, but alive. And I was too.

Some energy regained, it was what got me through the rest of class, as I ignored Inori's stare and did my best not to fall asleep.

Later, however, when I was with Itachi, that spurt of energy was useless.

It was kind of pathetic what I reverted to. This was the second week with Itachi and admittedly I had improved somewhat. Yet today, on a day he was particularly brutal, as if he was fighting his own inner demon, I was getting my ass whooped.

"Again," he ordered, as he easily swiped my feet from underneath me.

"Yes!" I replied, even as my throat burned for water, feeling severe knots in my side. I gave myself a one second reprieve as I sucked in a quick gulp of air before forcing myself into the correct stance. He gave a slight once over before going for the kill; this time sending a punch to my stomach.

I did little to prevent it, seeing it too late, before I found myself keeling over, ready to pass out.

"I'm going easy on you," Itachi reminded me, almost tauntingly. I looked at him through narrowed eyes. He still looked as impassive as ever. How freaking frustrating!

I got back into place again, willing myself not to focus on the pain of my heavy breathing, nor my complaining muscles. Instead, I found my concentration zoning in on him, like a heat seeking missile locked on its target.

"Uchiha-san," I whispered, faintly, my voice coming out hoarse. "Again."

He gave no hesitation as he moved forward, foot coming out to give me the slip. With little hesitation, I went for the cheap shot, lifting my foot just as his moved in. The result was me pressing the entirety of my weight onto my raised foot before I let it fall onto his, successfully trapping him. With him caught, and stunned, I used this chance to make a quick hit to his stomach. It lacked actual force but the fact that I was able to get a hit at all was astounding.

Easily, he disengaged himself, looking at me with a look of relative surprise.

"That was… different. Good job, Miyazaki-san."

I flushed with the unexpected praise, finding that I didn't even have anything to reply with. But when I realized how rude I was acting, I slowly looked away, a small phrase of gratitude slipping from my lips.

There was a slight pause, one filled with heavy awkwardness.

"Miyazaki-san… by orders of my father, I will be taking you to the Main House after school."

My spirits sank. This was _exactly_ the sort of thing I didn't want happening.

I wasn't prepared!

 _ **You're plenty prepared. You have me, after all.**_

 _Oh yes, the Great Demon Hatori is at my side, I can handle everything now!_

 _ **Glad to see you recog- -Hey! That was the human sarcasm, wasn't it?**_

 _What, do demons not use it?_

 _ **Demons aren't liars.**_

 _Could have told me twice_ , I couldn't resist replying with, withholding a scoff.

 _ **Tell me, out of all our conversations, have I lied?**_

I thought it over, brows lifting in surprise when I found my answer, _No… but you have tricked me._

 _ **As any good demon can.**_

"Alright," I muttered, deciding that the demon could win this time. I was too tired to argue anyway. I looked to Itachi. "I'll go with you."

He gave me a smooth look, as if to say, _you never had much of a choice to begin with._

That I didn't, but it's almost as if I never have.

* * *

 **A Demon's Proposition**

* * *

I kind of wished that the cellphone could have been made already. That would have come in handy when the end of the school day neared and all I could do was sweat in my seat. I needed to tell Obito, needed him there with me. But I knew that he was probably busy with his team, training and the like.

I kind of missed Rin. And Kakashi, if I were being completely honest.

I wanted them there for me when I had to face clan leaders, ones I knew would inevitably die by their son's hand. All because they forced him into spying, and it had been unnecessary. From the looks of it, the Uchiha clan was looked down upon thanks to the multiple problems in the past with them, with Madara and such. The Kyuubi attack had just progressed the villages suspicion to new heights when it became a rumor that the Sharingan had the ability to control bijuu.

Whether that was true or not, the Uchiha was still looked at as suspicious and more than likely had been treated differently, perhaps even segregated from the other clans. If I had been caught in the same situation, especially if I weren't guilty of it, I'd be pissed.

That was obviously Fugaku's take on things when he went ahead and planned the coup d'état, gaining information from Itachi in his double spy role.

But it was silly in the end; when what they should have done wasn't raise a coup d'état.

A revolution would have worked just fine.

From having been in this world for such a brief time and only knowing things from the Demon Book (I'm creative, shut up), I could already see how dysfunctional the government of Konoha was. Sure, there was a lack of hungry civilian kids dying on the streets, but that was only because they left to train in the Academy, finding that was the easiest way to live.

It was also the fastest way to die.

Orphaned kids didn't have any political backing, no extra financial support, or the clan raising to teach them of the best way to fight. Successful orphaned kids were, sad to admit, few and far between.

And not just that; people with the lack of clan prestige were put on the back burner. Ignored and overlooked.

These were issues the Uchiha could have used to manipulate into their direction, giving rise to a revolution. Different from a forcible takeover, wouldn't guiding changes in slowly be much better? They sure as hell would last a whole lot longer.

The Uchiha clan was practically the police force, and I had no doubt that if Itachi got to be the head of that movement, he could do great things.

I wasn't so sure about Fugaku though, never had the displeasure to meet the guy.

But I would be soon.

Immediately my throat tightened and I took another drag of water from my sack.

This sucked ass.

* * *

 **A Demon's Proposition**

* * *

I nervously shifted on my toes, only wanting to either die again or run for the hills. I doubt I'd get far with the latter though. Sigh. What made it even worse was that I was all alone in this. Hatori had left to go talk to his Master about whatever it is he needed to. It was kind of… lonely.

"You must be Sata Miyazaki," Mikoto, I guessed, murmured serenely, face just as relaxed as Itachi's. Her complexion was soft, her dark hair standing in contrast to her pale skin. She had really pretty eyes, the shape suiting her along with the added fact that her eyelashes were long, giving her a more 'innocent' look. I could tell, however, that she was anything but.

"I am," I started, coming to bow lowly to her, head down, hands clasped in front of me. I knew it was the proper way to give respect to an elder, or someone of higher status, thanks to the overseas student exchange I'd done as a freshman in college. I rose a beat later, a trained smile plastered to my face. "And you must be Mikoto Uchiha-dono. It's a pleasure."

"How polite!" Mikoto seemed to gush. "I am as you say but the pleasure is all mine, Sata-chan."

I gave no words of reply, only hoping that my smile reached my eyes.

Probably thanks to my mom, older women always had a way of setting me uneasy.

"Well, come into the dining room, please. I'll get you something to eat before you meet with my husband. You must be hungry."

I nodded, not willing to tell her that I was too full of nerves to eat anything at the moment. But it was impolite to not accept anything offered, as if to say you were too good to have anything of theirs.

Nonetheless, I followed three steps behind her, into a traditionally kept dining room, with sliding paper doors and low designer furniture. I liked it, I guess. It was a lot better than Obito's shabby one bedroom place.

Mikoto gestured to a fluffed pillow chair thing on the floor and I—kind of—gracefully came to sit down on my knees. For the life of me I couldn't recall the names of any of these things but I didn't focus much on it, watching as Mikoto strayed to another room.

She came back moments later, carrying a tray of tea and what looked to be anko filled daifuku. I tried not to grimace. I never did like the taste of azuki beans. But no matter, I've struggled through worse.

"Take as many as you'd like," she murmured pleasantly before setting out the cups and plates, only then taking her seat from across me.

I took two, watching as she poured us both tea, mine first before her own, only ever pausing when she wondered what I'd like in my tea. But I only ever drank it plain. She put in two cubes of sugar and a sip of milk.

"I probably should have made rice balls," Mikoto admitted while she watched me take a hesitant bite of the daifuku. I was pleased to find that it didn't taste as weird as it had in my past life. Huh, I guess this body did have different taste buds.

In fact, it tasted pretty good.

"Does Itachi-san like rice balls?" I asked, honestly curious. Hadn't I read that somewhere in the Demon Book of Hell?

"Yes, they're his favorite, though you can't always tell with him."

I openly laughed, pleased to find that Mikoto was much nicer than I had thought she'd be. Relaxing somewhat, I started on my second daifuku.

"I can't really see him having any favorites, to be honest."

She studied me for a brief second, blinking. "Sorry," she let loose a small chuckle as she caught herself staring. "You aren't like the other girls. You don't have the look that you worship the ground he walks on."

"I try not to," I informed her dryly, envisioning the fangirls Itachi seemed to collect like moths to light.

Mikoto's smile turned into a grin. "So you haven't taken a liking to my Itachi?"

I shook my head quickly. "No."

Mikoto outright laughed, light shining through her eyes. "This has to be a first! What did he do to you that scared you off?"

My eyes narrowed, my mind going back to darker times when I suffered from pain far beyond mere scratches and cuts. A bruised ego could only take some much, I tell you.

I opened my mouth to give a somewhat serious reply before Itachi came into the dining room, sneaking in like a cat. I nearly had a heart attack when he appeared out of thin air, the words of "Father will see you now," leaving his lips.

Hastily, I stood up, quickly bowing to Mikoto before following Itachi to another room, finding myself walking through numerous halls to get to our destination. But we arrived soon enough, him finally stopping at a thin paper covered sliding door.

"Come in," came a muffled voice, one that was rather deep and throaty. Wasting no time, Itachi opened the sliding door and gestured for me to enter.

I did so, telling myself that no, I really wasn't as nervous as I probably looked.

Lying, as surprising as it was for a self-professed politician, never did come easy to me.

"You must be Sata Miyazaki," Fugaku said, face as deeply stiff as it had been in the picture of his character data. I tried not to freak out.

"Sata," I corrected, moving to bow lowly. "Good evening, Uchiha-dono."

"Well then, Sata Miyazaki-kun, take a seat."

I did, quickly following his expansive gesture to the cushions on the floor and sitting with as much dignity as I could muster.

"Let's get down to business," he started and a distant melody came to me.

To defeat the Huns!

I nodded, the thought relaxing me as I thought of how brave Mulan had been, knowing that her struggle had been far worse than mine.

"I've been told that you are currently a new civilian with a kekkei genkai, one with actual worth."

That was put bluntly. I blinked and then nodded. "Yes."

"I have also been told that you have taken up residence in the compound with a certain orphaned boy by the name of Obito Uchiha."

I nodded, this time swallowing thickly. It was one thing to feel that you're being threatened but when a friend was being talked of in such a way? Utterly terrifying.

"Now, let me tell you what you have done that I can use as grounds to execute you," Fugaku continued on, tone completely serious as he talked of my possible death. God, I wished Hatori was here. I did my best to keep a straight face as he went on. "You are technically a trespasser with the fact that you never informed any of the main family, the elders or anyone with actual authority of your being here. And not only that, you aided in the stealing of the Sharingan for that boy."

I laughed.

I couldn't help it.

It came out just as I realized how he spoke to me like a child who knew nothing of the world. I guess you could describe me as such but I was anything but stupid.

"Uchiha-dono, you can't seriously expect me to believe that, can you?" I didn't even pause for an answer before I went on, "First of all, I did have permission, the Hokage's permission. He said as long as Obito-nii-san is fine with it, I can stay," I raised up a hand as I saw his mouth open to reply, his eyes glowing with ferocity. "And don't even try to tell me that the Hokage's word doesn't contain that much weight. I know for a fact that it contains much more than yours. This wasn't fabricated either, Uchiha-dono. And onto the second point you laid out to me, I wasn't even there when the eye was transferred to Kakashi Hatake. That's right, transferred, not stolen. Obito-nii-san gave it to him on his deathbed. That is, before I saved him. But that's the thing you really want to talk to me about, isn't it? My ability to heal with my blood."

I sucked in a breath, finding that I had ever been so blatantly argumentative to such a degree in my life. It kind of felt good. Like, really good. He looked kind of, but not entirely, gobsmacked.

Silence ensued before he slowly nodded.

"Yes. I'll be frank then. I want you to vow your loyalty to the Uchiha clan, to help in anything we so desire above all other clans."

I lifted a brow. "This sounds suspiciously like you're turning me against Konoha itself."

Okay, I should probably pull out the duct tape right about now. God knows when he'd snap. But okay, it was kind of fun seeing him look so angry.

I rushed on, barely mulling over a newly formed idea before I jumped on it. "I will do that… if… you agree to let Kakashi keep the eye."

"I can't—."

"Look at it this way," I murmured softly. "You need more people activating your family's kekkei genkai, right? Well, with this setup, you'll have two new users. Two new malleable little soldiers, ready to obey your command—and me. You'll have me."

Was I bad at manipulating people? Definitely not.

Just give them what they want. Even if they don't realize it themselves.

He gave a reluctant nod.

* * *

 **A Demon's Proposition**

* * *

"You did what!?" Obito asked, nearly shouting as he halted in his motions to swing around and stare at me, alarmed.

"I agreed to use my kekkei genkai for them if they left you guys alone," I announced proudly, looking at him with pride. I had accomplished my first personal goal in this world, somehow managing to protect Obito and Kakashi both. Although I could care less about that bratty Hatake.

"Why?" Obito asked and my smile faltered.

"I thought you'd be happy if you didn't have to worry about Bakashi anymore."

My only friend in this world shook his head. "This was what I was afraid of, Sata-chan. I didn't… I didn't want them to get to you."

"I'm fine," I insisted, brows creasing as I wondered why on Earth he was so unhappy when I had done this for him.

He just sighed before wondering aloud, "Would there be any way to take it back?"

"Nope," I answered truthfully. "And I wouldn't want to anyway, Obito-nii-san. I had to repay you somehow."

"But you didn't!" Obito cried out, voice carrying throughout the training grounds, causing his teammates to look up. He waved them off before lowering his voice and turning back to me. "Sata-chan… you being there was enough. I only wanted to eat your food and learn more about you…" he trailed off, looking horrified. "But it's my fault, isn't it? That they got their claws in you…"

At that, I vehemently shook my head. "No! I went willingly, Obi-nii-san. I promise. On my own," I swore to him, feeling the panic at having hurt him rise, "I'm fine!"

"No, you aren't," Obito said, barely holding back a shout. "You'll be hurt! Bullied and belittled when you can't do well! They'll hate you! They always do!"

Wait.

I stared at him, horrified at what was really the cause of his anger.

"Obito-nii-san... members of the Uchiha clan… hurt you, didn't they? They bullied you because… you were dead last in your class?" I swallowed thickly, my throat suddenly feeling too dry. I bit my lip, seeing Obito look less than happy.

But he tried to hide it. Forcing a smile, he ground out, "No! I'm too cool to be bullied, silly."

He was super bad at it. Lying, that is.

"Obi-nii-san, I love you, okay? I love you a lot. And I promise… I promise that if I get bullied… I'll go to the coolest older brother in the world! And I know for a fact that he'll protect me."

"Oh," he paused, as if he hadn't been expecting me to say that.

His grin faltered, a thoughtful expression on his face before, after a minute of silence, a real smile slipped on. It was tiny but it felt natural and real. "Yes, big brother will protect you." With that said, I went over, my arms wrapping tightly around his waist.

"Thank you, Sata-chan, thank you for doing this," he told me and I felt warm, my head swimming with a feeling of elation. "Don't worry, I'll definitely protect you."

Somehow, I felt like I could believe he was telling the truth there.

* * *

 **A Demon's Proposition - End**


End file.
